Quick Party Drink Markers

Though this quick crafty accessory for New Year's Eve comes a bit last minute, I am stuck in Idaho on my way home to Nebraska after a lovely winter holiday with my family in Washington, & I'm trying to occupy my time in the hotel by passing the hours away with some creative fun.



Mr. WhiMSy love bought us some sparkling apple cider & plastic champagne glasses to ring in 2011 in our hotel room. And I was immediately inspired...

I have always loved the creative drink markers I've seen over the years. And I thought up a couple super quick, seriously easy ways to mark your drinks at a party-- (in minutes!)-- so your guests can easily keep track of which drink is theirs.

The first idea is to cut 1 1/2" felt circles in different colors. Fold the circle in half & snip a 1/4" slit. Fold in half the other way & cut another slit. Slide the stem of the glass through the felt circles & then snap on the bottom of the glass.



The other quick idea is to simply tear strips of fabric & tie them around the base of your stemware.

Cheers!
Happy 2011!!!
♥ Nikki


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Merry Christmas!!

I am having a fabulous holiday with family, family & more family.
I cannot even put into words what an amazing experience I had in Seattle with Tia, meeting my birth father & brothers & sisters. My heart is so happy!!

Hope your Christmas is filled with all the things that make your heart happy too!!!
♥

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Come on baby fix my tire

(the title of this post should be sung to the tune of "Come on Baby Light My Fire" by The Doors)

So, we're traveling. And it's snowy. And the roads are a mess. And we glided & spun & flipped around & slid off the road, almost rolling the vehicle. But a clump of trees caught us, as we slammed into them, puncturing our tire. Like, major loud-hissing-losing-air-fast puncture. We are all ok. Still a little shook up. And stressed from driving in crazy weather. We just want to get to Washington. I just want to get home. To my mommy.

I've been posting our status on facebook. I LOVE, lurve, luv, facebook! It's been so nice for my fam & friends to keep tabs on us while we're on the road.
Do you know how awesome it feels to know we're covered & smothered in prayer? ( Just like Denny's omelets. But with less cheese.) Thanks for that.
And thanks to the trucker who stopped right away to help push us out & direct us to safety.
And thanks to the people who tried helping my hubby change the tire. And thanks to a man named Riley, who offered my cold & wet hubby a towel & his sweatpants.
3 cheers for stranger angels!!

We had to wait until this morning to get a new tire. But Walmart did the job. And now we are on the road-- on our final stretch of 457 miles.

Happy to be safe. Happy for amazing friends & family. And still...happy for adventure.



♥

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WhiMSy love Christmas

I thought I'd share some Christmas things. Like the tree...

...& the newest ornament.

(handmade by me!)

...& the wrapping...

(tissue paper wrapped in vintage string, paper circle cutouts & plastic letter beads.

...& the glittery Christmas winter house...

(that took me 3 hours to make! haha!)

...& the family Christmas card...

(from my friend Laura at on3photostudios.com)

...& the prezzies...

(clay cups of cocoa ornaments)

Have fun getting ready for Christmas!!

♥

R.I.P.

♥

Crafty Night!

It was a crafty flashback as I taught the crafty crew how to make elastic bookmarks.

Quick gift! Super fun & easy to make!

I had a lot of my bottlecap pendants leftover from a looooong crafty time ago, so a lot of the ladies opted to use those for the charms on the bookmarks.

We also wrapped up our bookmarks in adorable packaging for giving as gifts!

I'm also super excited because next month Crafty Night starts in a new location with a new agenda & a new set-up!! January will be the big kick-off & I'm asking for donations from all my crafty friends. I'll be giving away prizes throughout the night & putting together goodie bags for all in attendance. So, if you could donate a handmade item &/or 15-20 sample items, please email me @ whimsy-girl [at] hotmail [dot] com. I'd be ever so thankful & will make mention of your donation on my blog & will announce a complete list of those donating at the first Crafty Night in January! Thanks for those who have already donated. You are much loved!!

♥

Week in Review: December 6-12

This is prolly my weirdest 'Week in Review' EVER. I'm busy, busy, busy! Too busy to take photographs, obviously. Busy getting ready for vacation, busy working lots more hours at the newspaper, busy crafting, busy packing, busy getting Christmas cards mailed out, busy trying to find all those addresses to put ON those Christmas cards I'm trying to mail out,  busy being stressed about being busy.

I have 2 days left to get bunches & oodles of stuff done. Hopefully I'll be able to pop on here a time or two while I'm away. (Most likely it'll be a rather sloppy post via my iphone.) I am excited to be with family. And excited (yet extremely nervous) to meet my biological father & bio-siblings. I know my time away will be extremely fantastic & amazing & I'll have so many stories & pics to share & my heart will be overflowing with happiness!! It's the "getting there" that's tough.

1200 mile road trip, here we come!!!

Click HERE for a photo play-by-play.

♥

Want•Need•Wear•Read

Last year was my first go at the Want•Need•Wear•Read gift idea. Holiday gift giving for my girls is now simplified: Something they WANT, something they NEED, something to WEAR, something to READ. I was inspired by THIS.

To give you some inspiration, here's what I did for the girls last year...

WANT

Zoey: Fur Real Friends Baby Gorilla

Pazely: Littlest Pet Shop set.

NEED

Zoey's gift had to do with correspondence. And, having just moved to Nebraska in the cold blizzardy weather, Pazely needed her own handmade microwavable heat pillow just like her sister's. We use those pillows ALL the time!! (I cut an 8" square of cotton fabric & filled it with flaxseed & lavender. Or you can use rice instead of flaxseed. Then, I sewed a removable pillow case for it. Done! You heat it in the microwave at 30 second intervals until it gets as warm/hot as you want. Toss in your kids' bed to warm their toes in the winter! I also use it as a heating pad for my back.)

WEAR

I made the girls super hero capes. (Click HERE to see Zoey's cape.) Not totally practical as far as "everyday" wear, but it's fun to think outside the box with the WEAR gift.

READ

Magazine subscriptions. This was a favorite all year long!! Zoey received American Girl Magazine, which I LOVE! And Pazely got Hopscotch for Girls magazine.

************

Here's some MORE ideas to get you thinkin'...

WANT

Instead of toys, why not a trip you know your child's been WANTing to go on: To the zoo, to some amusement park, to a monster truck rally, to see Elmo in concert, to a ballet performance, to the movies, etc. Really, this should be the easiest prezzie to figure out for your child, since kids are pretty vocal about what they WANT! The holiday sky's the limit!

NEED

Honestly, this might be the present your kid opens & doesn't like so much. There's a chance of that anyway. And it seems to be the gift in the bunch that might be the most practical. What about a new backpack for school? Or school supplies? Do they need a case to hold all their music CD's or DVD's? I found this the hardest category to think of for my girls. Pazely needs a new bike: but, really, who NEEDS a bike? Ya know? Also, we're taking a 1200 mile road trip this Christmas holiday. The hubby & I plan to surprise the girls with a portable DVD player for the car. We've been wanting one for a while, since our last one broke. I feel like it's a NEED for the trip---to keep the girls entertained (& the mommy gets a break from having to play the role as "entertainer") along the way. Is it really a NEED though? Not really. We could survive without it. (Just barely.) But, you get the idea.

WEAR

This year, I got the girls some fun toe socks. Have you seen those? They're like gloves, but for your toes! You see, it doesn't have to be an expensive gift. I spent 7 dollars. Boom. 2 gifts done.

What about some fun play dress up clothes? Or a new winter coat? A gift card to a clothing store? A shoe shopping date with dad? New jammies! Crazy slippers! Bottle cap badges! (hee hee) What else do you wear: fingernail polish, makeup, hair accessories, jewelry, hats, etc. Or it could be something that their favorite doll wears! Or their dog---I've seen some cute dog clothes/accessories around!

READ

I just love the magazine subscripton idea. It might be one of my faves. This year, the girls are getting their own age appropriate bible devotionals. What about a gift card to a bookstore? Bookmarks? A book light? Activity books? An all-day, all-expenses-paid trip to...the library! haha! You really could plan a special trip with this one. One of our family's favorite things we used to do (before moving to a small town), was to go to Barnes & Noble almost every Saturday. We would sit in the kid's section & read, & look at books & visit & relax & the girls would play with the stuffed animals on the shelves like they were their own until the lady that worked there would give them "the look" & then we'd put the toys away & then when she was gone, they'd play again.....But for Christmas you could do all that AND have your child pick out a special book as a gift before you left.

Or, how about writing them a letter, filled with tender thoughts & mushy feelings---all for them to READ.

These are just a few ideas. If you have any other's, please leave a comment! Can't wait to see what you come up with!!

Merry Christmas!

♥

Week in Review: November 29-December 5

The fam leaves for holiday vacation on the 17th!! So much to do until then!

My dream would be to get it all done quick, so I can enjoy the anticipation with a happy heart & not a stressed out one.

Here's my list of to-do's for the week.

I'll cross them off as I get them done.

Maybe the pressure of having them seen by all, will motivate me to actually do them! haha!

• Write the "annual" Christmas letter

•Adress & mail all Christmas cards

• Make secret prezzie #1

•Mail Etsy orders

•Clean art studio (not happening.)

•Gather ingredients for cookie makin' next week

For a photo play-by-play click HERE.

♥



CSN Giveaway Winner!!

Congrats to Danielle of http://life-with-two-boys.blogspot.com/
You are the winner of a $35.00 gift certificate to csn.com.
Have fun shopping!!
♥


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gift

What we are is God's gift to us. What we become is our gift to God.

-Eleanor Powell

 Clay prezzies baked & then glued onto clothespins as ornaments--a gift, along with the above quote, to my worship band at church. We had a rather semi-spontaneous gathering of cookies & cocoa & coffee & games this evening. I rock the Guesstures. Another favorite: Scattergories.

Holiday parties have begun!

♥

Shop WhiMSy love in Bridgeport!

I almost titled this post "WhiMSY love--in stores near you!", but that's not entirely true. It's one store. And it's prolly really, really far from where most of you are. But, still, I'm uber, super, deluxe EXCITED!!!

A good smattering of WhiMSy love items have made their way to ON3 Photography at 1013 Main Street in Bridgeport. The studio, which is being renovated, is gorgeous to the max! Warm colors, beautiful old tin ceiling, an artsy concrete floor & an amazing setting for taking studio portraits or getting yer prints framed.

A pretty rad place all around. HERE is a link to studio pics via ON3's facebook fan page.

As you walk in the studio, there is a sitting area on the right. (I call it "The Living Room"). My handmade items are displayed in the giant shelves facing this area. In fact, I sit in the little living room area--sipping coffee with the hubby, or doing crafty stuff--at least once a week.

I still need to do some tweaking.

Set out biz cards.

WhiMSy-fy things a bit more.  

  But I'm just so thrilled at the opportunity!

The owners, Laura Hedin & Randy Henry are my friends.

So stop by, say hi, & ooh-n-aah a bit!!

  

   

♥

Month of Gratitude: The End

Day 29:

Zoey (age 8) is grateful for...the Wii.

I am grateful for...a playful heart.

Pazely (age 6) is grateful for...colors.

 Day 30:

Zoey is grateful for...her games.

I am grateful for...a chance at lunch out. (Especially at my favorite Chinese joint--Wonderful House.)

Pazely is grateful... that we have feet.

Well, this is the end of our Month of Gratitude photo journey. Hope you enjoyed peeking in. When I did this project, I didn't want to state the obvious: I'm grateful for my family & friends & my relationship with Jesus Christ & food & a home. Those are like no-brainer things. But I realized, looking back through my photos, that a lot of what I am grateful for are all the things that spoil me really: eating out, crafting, presents, alone time....Non necessities. But of apparent value to me as well.

What was REALLY interesting was seeing what my girls were grateful for. They made me realize how much I take simple things for granted. Like feet. And toothbrushes. And doorknobs. And toilets.

It was a challenge on some days to think of what to be grateful for. But it got me in the practice of thinking about these things "on purpose".

To view all of our photos & collages, click HERE.

To view everyone's photos from the Month of Gratitude flickr group, click HERE.

And happy December to you all!!!

♥