Week in Review

Last. Week. Of. Summer. Break.

I can't believe it's, like, over.

Well, not yet! Tonight we're going to have a celebratory campfire in the backyard & share our favorite memories & list all the things we've done all summer. (And some s'mores might possibly make a surprise appearance.)

I get to go to Zoey's 1st grade class "Sneak Peek" tonight too. Eeeek! I'm so excited!

And then Tuesday it begins. For reals.

Last week we tried to play as much as we could. And I think we succeeded. I really think this was my most favorite summer of our lives yet. I think I'll have a SUMMER re-cap post to well....re-cap.

*Click on the picture mosaic for a photo play-by-play.

♥

The Winner.

Yo.

Buy my Bug Catcher Necklaces.

I gots bills to pay...& toys to play.

Aaaaand....the winner of the Bug Catcher Necklace GIVEAWAY is:

#23!!

Congrats to Dee Dee who said:

"I would give it to my granddaughter who likes to catch lightis...it will be come a light up necklace...lol..funny give away..thanks for the chance"

♥

How do you roll?

how I roll*

definition: justification for how someone behaves.

Brendan: Hey, Rob why are you at a 20% in science?

Rob: Because I don't hand in any homework.

Brendan: Why?

Rob: Because that's how I roll.

*Brought to you by the Urban Dictionary.

• Once in a while when my kids are all up in my face at the butt-crack of dawn whispering over & over & over & over & over about how they're hUnGry I just turn over & pretend I don't hear 'em. That's how I roll.


• Peanut butter & jelly sandwiches for lunch AND dinner? That's how I roll.


• Sometimes I don't get a shower for a couple days & so I stick my hair all up in a pony-tail pretending like I meant for it to be that way, but in reality my greasy hair won't go any other way. That's how I roll.


• Often I'll read, make lists, flip through magazines, play games on my cellphone....in the bathroom. It's my sanctuary. My quiet place. That's how I roll.


• Most of my clothes I launder are pajamas. That's how I roll.

• Lazy day? Periodically I have "lazy week". That's how I roll.

• Once in a blue moon I sneak a piece of chocolate when the kids aren't looking. You know, so I don't have to share. That's how I roll.

I do realize in my attempt to create a photo with a "cheesy gangsta" vibe, that I ended up looking like a hippie clown. I guess that's how I roll.

Peace out dawg.

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Sunday Afternoon Etsy ♥ LOVE ♥

My vintage book entitled "Are You a Genius?" was featured on the front page this afternoon, as was my sweet 2 year old nephew. (Cutest male model EVER.)

YAY!
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Bug City

The girls & I caught a praying mantis & a hornet.

I apologize in advance for my extremely annoying high-pitched cackle laugh--one of the many of my repertoire of chuckles, giggles, guffaws & snickers.

And then there's the finale. Just watch. You'll see. (I guess I panicked & forgot we were "filming".)

*no bugs were harmed in the making of this video.*

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Giveaway!

Pazely had an idea! Let's give away a Bug Catcher Necklace! Cool. I'm down with that.
So, to enter, simply leave a comment on this post telling us what YOU'D put in your necklace if you had one. (They also keep tiny treasures handy too ya know.) We'll pick a winner Monday August 31st--so you only have through this weekend to play along!
Pazely will craft up a custom necklace for the winner!
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After Wednesday.

I love randomness. And I love my friend Tia. And so when she showed up unexpectedly at my door this morning with this, it brought me to a very. happy. place.

(She also attached a bag of candies, but my girls & I were all over that before she even left the driveway.)

Happy Thursday everyone!

♥

Hangin' On To Summer!

The girls & I had some friends over yesterday for a playdate. OK, they were the GIRLS' friends, but I like to play too!

Movies. Oatmeal & choco chip cookies. Games. Rollerskating. Bug catching. Sidewalk chalk. Swimsuits. Water balloon wars. And craftiness. All in ONE afternoon!

LOVE this photo. Zoey has no idea what's coming. HAHA!

We ended our day with some crafty fun. The girls & I taught our friends to make the Bug Catcher Necklaces.

After our guests left, I had some time to reflect on conversations had with some of the little people:

"Miss Nikki, can we make something crafty today?" ("Um, do I even have to answer that question? First person to the crafty supplies WINS!")

"You're fun Miss Nikki!" ("Aww, thanks, sweetie!")

"Your floors are much dirtier than ours."

(*uncomfortable silence*)

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And For My Next Trick...

Now, if I could only figure out a way to light that thing on fire, we'd REALLY have an act we could take on the road.

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Window Writing

Last weekend the girls & I had some fun decorating the outside of our house windows. Just because. We used a window marker, which we got at Walmart in the party section. But on my last visit, I saw all sorts of colors in the crafty section.

This would be a fun way to spell out "Happy Birthday" if you're having a party. I'm even thinking of surprising the girls when they wake up on their first day of school with some fun messages to celebrate their BIG day!

Here is a cupcake I drew along with this phrase: "Happy As a Cupcake!"

The marker washes off very easily with a hose.

I even attacked our tiny bathroom window, which sits above the bathtub. To remind the bathers of their duties you know.

And then Zoey drew some guy riding a horse & farting. (I didn't even bother to ask. I blame her dad.)
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Week in Review

What a silly fun week! I sure hope you're not sick of hearing about the Bug Catcher Necklaces. It was the highlight of this week in the little WhiMSy love household. The girls & I have been making them every day. (I had to start helping out--they don't seem to get the concept of "supply & demand". haha!) They sold 3 of 'em the first day they were listed! I'm thinking they'll make GREAT prezzies for the Christmas Bazaar I'll be participating in this year too! We're getting lots of stock ready for the show! And the cutest thing EVER was that the girls each made a purchase with their earnings. Pazely bought some marbles & Zoey bought a hula hoop. It's been a great learning lesson for them too: understanding that we have to pay for supplies & fees, but we also get to make neato tags, invent cool packaging, fill orders & have fun makin' stuff!

Oh yeah, & that hula hoop? My girls & I took some candid snapshots jumping THROUGH it. My hula hoopy photo is not as cute as theirs. But maybe I'll post it later this week so you can get a good chuckle. Because, that's why I'm here: to amuse you.

Oh, how I'm mourning the end of summer. This is the final week of chillin' like a villain. School is sneaking up too quickly. I seriously have pitter patters in my tummy. And I feel like I'm never going to see Zoey. She'll be gone all morning & afternoon. This will be just horrible! And I'm super nervous for Pazely---a Kindergartner!? That just doesn't seem right.

Well, I will try my darnedest to give my girls a great "Last Week of Summer"!

*Click on the photo mosaic for a photo play-by-play.*

Happy Monday!
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It's Friday. That's Neat.

The girls & I got supplies for their Bug Catcher Necklaces & they're working hard at making a nice assortment for the shop. They'll be making their debut this early evening! I'll post it on Twitter & let you know exactly when! (And we heard those of you that requested "boy" ones too!) And WAIT until you see the packaging my 6 year old came up with. Simple, clever & cute!

UPDATE: The Bug Catcher Necklaces are in the shop. Only minutes after listing 4 of them TWO sold! The girls are sooo excited. And I'm such a proud crafty mama. Guess I better crack the crafty whip & get them makin' more. HAHA!

Oh, & look HERE at the packaging!

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Wow, I can't believe today is Friday. I heart Fridays, but I uber heart Saturdays even more. It's our family day, our relax-n-chill-out day, it's our adventure day, it's my "mommy time" day ALL wrapped into one. Oh, & we clean in the morning. (Bleck.) BUT, it's amazing how AWESOME the cleaning thing has gone since Mr. WhiMSy love volunteered to have the whole family help out. I love it. (And he looks really good holding that vacuum cleaner. Housecleaning hawtness.)

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For some leisure reading: Take a peek HERE. Ruthie of Rose Works Jewelry interviewed moi! (Leave some comment luv too, K?)

Happy Weekending!

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Dear So & So...

Dear Mr. WhiMSy love,

Please stop using my bath towel. I don't know how many times I've told you to keep your sweaty gym body off that thing. Ew. Grody to the max. I've seriously considered embroidering a picture of your face onto your towels. Stop it. PLEASE. Me no likey.

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Dear Snack Foods,

Why do I love you so? And especially when you're in the shape of a Hershey's chocolate bar with almonds. Who am I kidding???? Any shape will do.

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Dear Waistline,

Grrrrrr.

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Dear Nosy-Man-Driving-His-Car-Next-To-Me-While-I'm-On-My-Way-To-Church-On-Sunday-Morning,

Yes. I am plucking my eyebrows. You got a problem with that?

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Dear Summer,

I love you. I'm not ready to let you go.

(Although...the girls are getting very rowdy & anxious for school to start. And I am running out of ideas to keep them entertained....)

Talk to me next week. I might be ready by then.

♥

Dear Boy Doll That Belongs To my 6 Year Old,

She chopped off your foot, put you in a freaky dress from the 80's, strangled you with a hideous bow, & smothered you with glittery lipgloss while humiliating & mocking you with her friends. Why? Why did you stick around long enough for this to happen? You should have known what she does to the boy dolls. It's kind of your own fault.

♥

Dear 5 year old daughter,

You make me laugh. All the time. I love it when you sing at the top of your lungs in the bathtub. Or when you beat your chest like Tarzan. Or even when you eat your toast in the shape of a diaper.

♥

Whimsical Fairy Doors Tutorial

The girls & I just finished a 2-day project & we're so excited to share it with you! I recently found these Fairy Doors on Flickr & immediately fell in love. Ann Arbor, MI even has tours of secretly hidden fairy doors scattered around the city!

First, I cut some rounded door shapes, with a jigsaw, from a leftover piece of wainscoting/bead board. Any type of wood will work though as long as it's not too thick.

We spray painted the doors. House paint or exterior paint would work too.

Earlier in the summer we collected all sorts of fallen twigs, pine cones & acorns, etc to use for this project. We covered a table with newspaper & set out the twigs-n-stuff, along with acrylic paints, brushes, water bowls & paper towels.

You can leave your twigs natural, but we decided to add a bit of whimsy & paint them bright colors.

When your twigs are dry, you can adhere them to the door. First we played around with the design, getting the sticks to lay however we chose. Then, we applied floor & wall adhesive (the same stuff you use to lay tile floors) to our twigs & mushed it into place. I would've opted first to use my E6000 glue or even wood glue, but both those things are hard for my girls to use & I liked the spreadable texture of the floor adhesive. It is a bit stinky, so use ventilation or do this project outdoors. Wearing gloves is a good idea too.

I told the girls to really glop it on--so that it would stick. I really like the look of the adhesive oozing through the branches too. I suppose you could clean it up as you go along if that's not your style.

We constructed extra accessories for our fairy door with clay. (Fimo or Sculpey). I made some door hinges ...

...a mushroom doorknob & a "window". The window is just a small piece of round mirror I had. The girls used lids from the frosting of cinnamon roll tubes I saved. We just made snake-like shapes, wrapped it around the "window" & baked it in the oven just like that. I also added some leaves 'cause I thought mine looked a bit twiggish.

Zoey's door (my almost 7 year old):

Find a sweet little place to prop (or attach) your fairy door.

The fairies & pixies will know your kindness & hospitality when they see your magical & whimsical creations!

Here's my finished door:

Pazely's door (my 5 year old):
♥

Movie Review

I recently watched a very "quirky" & l-o-v-e-l-y & funny independent film called Happy Birthday Harris Malden. It was enjoyable in EVERY way! (And it happens to be streaming on Netflix right now.)

"Friends all give loveable and idiosyncratic Harris Malden (Nick Gregorio) special treatment. No one wants to tell him that his large, black drawn-on moustache isn't real. So they go along with the illusion -- until his friend's (Eric M. Levy) date blurts the obvious. Now they must deal with the consequences of Harris's breakdown. Brigitte Hagerman stars as Paul's girlfriend, Susan, in this quirky comedy about unconditional love and acceptance."

And do you want to know something fun? I gave a Twitter shout-out about the movie yesterday & Eric Levy, the guy who co-wrote, co-acted, co-produced, co-directed, etc the movie responded to my tweet!

2 thumbs up, 5 stars & all that jazz!

♥

WhiMSy love JR.

We've gotten some great response to The Bug Catcher Necklace! Some of you have even requested to purchase them! So, I asked the girls if they would be interested in making some & selling them in my shop. They are sooooo excited! (Isn't that so cute?!) They'll have some in the shop by this weekend, but please feel free to pre-order if you'd like by leaving a comment or emailing me.

Thanks!

♥

UPDATE: After posting this I was informed that our Bug Catcher Necklace Tutorial made it to the Craftzine:BLOG! Yahoo!

**ADDED: ....& THE CRAFTY CROW!

Extra Bug Catcher Necklace Post!

Zoey wanted in on the bug catcher action, so today she made this!

These necklaces could also hold tiny treasures.

See tutorial HERE.

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1 Hour Sale! Hurry!!

I'm going to announce a super fun & awesomely delightful dealio in the shop VERY soon! A special one hour ONLY sale this afternoon! I have NEVER, ever done this before. (Eek! So exciting!)

Wanna know what it's all about? I'll be tweeting it at 1:30pm! So, if you're not following my tweets now: GO HERE...& hurry!

♥

UPDATE: In case you missed it, all Vintage Button Rings were BUY ONE GET ONE FREE!!

Sorry, the sale is over now. But keep alert for random sales & deals in the future!

Thanks!

Week in Review

It seems like this week was rather uneventful compared to previous weeks of camping & a whirlwind visit from an out-of-town guest.

This week I got to cozy down for some long-anticipated crafty time.

Oh! And I officially sent in my paperwork for the holiday bazaar I did last year. It's kinda fun to have a goal like that to look forward to! December will be here before I know it. I've gotta crank out the crafties!

My girls are eager to remind me of all the promises of summer I have yet to fulfill. This week I'll try my darnedest to begin achieving those!

*Click on the picture mosaic for a photo play-by-play.

♥

Bug Catcher Necklace Tutorial

**THIS PROJECT WAS FEATURED IN THE 2012 JUNE/JULY ISSUE OF FAMILY FUN MAGAZINE!!**
My 5 year old LOVES bugs. Any living creature gets her sweet heart humming really. Today she found a lady bug at church & had to hold it in her hand all the way home. All of a sudden I thought of those little plastic cases that house the 25cent gumball-style treats. And how cute it would be to have one of those around to hold bugs in. When we got home, I told Pazely my idea & she mentioned she wanted a necklace--so, we got to work right away! What fun we had creating our own bug catcher necklace!

The supplies: beading cord, scissors, beads, a small vending machine plastic capsule, a thumbtack & (eventually) a bug!

*The capsules I used were some that the girls had lying around. But here is a link for some really cute ones at Tiny Things are Cute. They're a bit different than mine, so I'm not sure if they'd "click" together like mine did & hold the bugs securely. The price is right though!

*UPDATE: Caryn, of Tiny Things are Cute, has informed me that, though the capsules in her shop will hold bugs, she does not think they will work for securely "clicking" & being used as a bug catcher pendant on this necklace project. Just an FYI. (I must find another project for those capsules of hers, because they're just so darn cute!)

First you'll want to poke little holes all over the lid of the capsule. And poke a larger hole right in the middle.

Thread one end of your beading cord through the large hole.

Now hold it around your neck & measure how long you'd like your necklace to be. Remember to leave about 1 1/2" at each end for knotting off the necklace.

String beads onto the cord.

When the beads are all strung, push the other end of the cord through the hole. I had to push it through with the tack.

Slide one more bead onto both pieces of cord & knot it a couple times to secure.

Insert bug, & you're done! We put a tiny snack of lettuce inside too.

Remember to not leave your bug in the catcher too long. Eventually let your buggy pet go free!

To see Zoey's necklace, click HERE.

Not so crafty-natured? Let US make YOU some Bug Catcher Necklaces! Click HERE! (And we thank you from the bottom of our buggy-lovin' hearts!)

♥