New Skills Festival

Jo, of the blog A Bit of This and A Bit of That is hosting a New Skills Festival on her blog for the WHOLE month of September. She has, amazingly, recruited lots of different talent to offer up posts on all sorts of how-to's during the weekdays----including yours truly! I'm excited to check out the ideas being submitted & can't wait to try some new skills. My crafty idea (all new!) will be appearing on the 22nd of September. But, I'll remind you when it's up on her blog. I'll be putting this New Skills Festival blog button on the sidebar, so when you click it, you'll be led to the latest collection of 'new skills' posts.

Have fun!

♥

WHAT?

I haven't done one of these in a while. It's about time. Do you want to know how some people find my blog? Here's some google searches people have done...& ended up here. (Their searches are the bold phrases.) This idea was originally found via Beki's blog, "Pampering Beki", which is now The Rusted Chain.

crayon
what color?

giant cookie
please. share.

tiny cake
I'll take the giant cookie instead.

an oldafashioned part
i dontaunderstan

crayon cakes
waxy teeth

different colors
like blue? and pink & green & stuff?

felt dessert
fuzzy teeth

good mannequin names
Hmm, what about Albert von Schmirken. Or Lulu.

how to make a cupcake pillow
the only thing I can think of is you waking up with frosting all up in your hair. i don't think pillows made of cupcakes are a good idea.

mushy text messages
Here are a couple ideas...
1.*smoooooch*-slobber-slobber
2. hubba hubba

no sew fabric pumpkin
first of all, whatever you do, DO NOT USE YOUR SEWING MACHINE, I repeat: STEP AWAY FROM THE SEWING MACHINE! 

goldfish party
their tiny party hats might get soggy, & the goodie bags might float to the surface, but I think it's doable

how to keep cream puffs from falling
position your opened mouth at the edge of the table & as they roll off, boom!, instant catch-all.
how to fold a pirate hat
Aaarrgh!!! Pirates don't do origami! Aaaarrgh!!

microwave shrinky dinks
seriously? can this be done? you first.

toenail art
Ok, is this art on your toenails---or art made with toenails??

tupperware windsock
hold on, I have to google this one myself....

wording for littlest pet shop party invitation
Dear so & so,
Please come to my littlest pet shop party. I really love littlest pet shops.
In case you're wondering what to get me, I'll give you a hint: Anything LPS

woodland birthday party, where do i find the gnome
you mean, the gnome store is all sold out?

100 things to do with bean bags
#87: when you're stuck with what to do for dinner, there's always bags of beans...

+organizer +books +tutorial +fabric +hanging +kids
somehow, I feel like i should be calling Child Protective Services

50 days to have fun with old
Take old for a walk. Take old out for ice cream. Take old to a museum. 47 days left...

biggest lps house
can i send you an invitation to my party?

blowing bubbles in milk
insert straw in milk. you're halfway there.

can i make a hole in a shrinky dink
yes

can shrinky dinks burn
yes

can shrinky dinks go in a gas oven
i'm not sure. just try it & let me know how it goes.

creative first aid kit for mommies
Remove bandaids. Replace with chocolates. 

dairy kitchen keychain calendar with publicity
...& I thought my keychain was big.

funny name for a mannequin
Manny Quinn

goo
ga-ga

gum boots pots
it's like one of those random grocery lists you find in your shopping cart...

hoe to make a luggage tag
i think you took a wrong turn at the tool shed

hire gnome for birthday party
oh my gosh! Why didn't i think of that???

how many buttons in a bouquet
3

how to decorate diary
with spring loaded finger traps & electric zapper thingies

how to build windchimes using silverware
use duct tape

how to make a cats face on a pinata
eyeball, eyeball, nose, whiskers.

part time cleaners for summer
you have definitely come to the wrong place

pet sore theme parties
EEWWWW!!!

saran wrap dares
i dare you to....put away the leftovers.

scented bean bag
you mean you don't like the smell of beans?

shrinky dink mistake
did you, by chance, put it in a gas oven? or a microwave?

stretched ear lobes
can you tie them in a knot? can you tie them in a bow?

things needed for a swimming birthday party
water

things to do with envelopes
mail stuff

unconventional shower curtains
your wedding dress, a bear rug, sod, chain link fencing

what to do at a swim party?
Um, duh: pee in the pool!

♥

Yarn Bombing

Main Street

Small Town, NE

I know the act of yarn bombing (a.k.a. "knit grafitti") is prolly supposed to be all hush-hush, but I can't help blabbing about these knitting adventures of mine. Which means, it's really no secret, & not hush-hush at all.
The reason I yarn bomb is to bring a curious smile to the faces of those who see it. A bit of happy in an unexpected place will hopefully do that. And because I'm not damaging public property, it's all good. Still, I it's a contraversial topic. (Which doesn't make sense at all to me!)

When my knitting accomplice & I headed out to do some grafitti on this particular evening, we were a bit apprehensive. Because, seriously, she recently got pulled over for RUNNING DOWN THE STREET!! She only got a verbal warning I believe. But what would the Po-Po do if they saw us meddling on Main Street with yarn & needles & scissors?? We'd get sent to the slammer for sure! Ironically, to make things a bit more interesting, we decided to yarn bomb a light pole RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET from the police station. haha!

Everything went smoothly though. And more quickly than my first attempt.
I predict a totem pole of yarn happiness in this light pole's future.
Shhhhh.
♥

Mondays.

I write a weekly newspaper column & this is usually how I spend

my Monday afternoons.

Cozy in my bed. Heavy quilt at my feet. Laptop atop my lap. Notebook & pen nearby. Candle flickering. Pandora singing to me. Sometimes a yummy drink to sip on.

Deadline looming...

♥

Week in Review: August 22-28

I did so much happy crafting last week. The perfect remedy. (At least I think it is.)

And school started. Another remedy.

And high school football has begun. Remedy #3.
I even made cupcakes. Remediar numero cuatro.

Hmm, I think I'm on to something here...

I recently read a quote that said:
 "DO MORE OF WHAT YOU LOVE."

I really think I will make that my mantra.
I've already given up a lot of things that were stacked way too high on my pretty little plate. So high that they became unbalanced, crashing atop me. It feels good to be taking things easy. I now quietly analyze my choices. And make decisions established upon the afore-mentioned mantra.

I've started adventuring again. And creating more. Checking stuff off my "I've always wanted to try this" list. Happily purging & organizing my home. Finding happy places to nest...
It's a slow process of restructuring my life, schedule, behaviour & attitude. It not only involves decluttering my surroundings, but my insides as well.
And I'm finding that when I do more of what I love, life is not as complicated as it once seemed.

Click HERE for a photo play-by-play.

♥

[foo't-bawl]

I ♥ high school football.

I love sitting on the sidelines & being a part of all the energy.

I love having my camera in hand & pretending like I know what I'm doing.

(And then I love coming home & editing the photos! The effect in the picture above is created through picnik.com—the focal zoom effect.)

I really have no clue about the rules of the game.

It confuses me to no end.

But I still love being right there where all the action is.

And I especially love road trips with my friend Susan to games out of town!

Those trips will come soon enough. But for now, this scrimmage was a teaser.

First game of the season is next weekend.

Woot! Woot!

♥

30 Bags in 30 Days: Day 9 & 10: Kitchen Cupboards, Drawers & Shelves

Ok, I'm inching my way along with this 30 Bags in 30 Days Project. But I'm proud of myself that I'm keeping at it. My latest attempt involved me, spontaneously attacking the kitchen. Well, it came by accident. Mr. WhiMSy love opened a cupboard & things started flying out. So, I figured since it was already started for me, I might as well finish the rest of the cupboards & drawers & shelves.

I got rid of one big bag of garbage (old stained linens, a glass lid to a pot that's been forever missing, tupperware in the form of plastic ham, & plastic macaroni salad containers, etc.) & another big bag of donation stuff!

So far...15 bags purged, in 10 days!

In all my decluttering & purging, I uncovered 2 cast iron pans. They are small pans. One is a mini skillet (made in China & not as heavy as the other pan)—about 6 1/2" across x 1 1/4" deep. The other is a tiny pot—4" across x 2 3/4" deep. I'm not kitchen-savvy. I try. And, sadly, I've got a few appliances in my cupboards I've never even used. (Wedding prezzies!)  Maybe I'll reveal those later.

But first, help a girl out.

These pans are not in the best shape. Well, the Chinese one looks awesome. But I know I can clean the rusty one properly. I'm pretty sure I've googled that before. But then what? What do I do with them? We aren't campers, but we do grill. And we have a flat glass stovetop--so I know it can't be used there. Any advice? Do you have a favorite 'cast iron recipe'? Is there even such a thing as a 'cast iron recipe'? I think I may have used one of these pans ONCE in the past 10 years. But I'd really like to try to use them properly & give it a go before I decide to give it up.

I can't wait to hear your comments!
UPDATE: OK, so I keep hearing that glass stovetops + cast iron pans = "A-OK". I guess my naivety on the whole subject of cast iron cooking had me fooled! Can't wait to try my pans! And thanks for the cast iron encouragement!

♥

Plaid Collage

I'm ready for fall. Like, bigtime.

And I love plaid. Like, a lot.

So I decorated. Like, real quick.

 I've inserted various vintage plaid fabrics into some metal hoops I had. To make things temporary, just in case I get a sudden hankering for polka dots, I used double sided tape to adhere the fabric to the underside of the hoops.

And I had the darndest time getting a good photo of my collage. You see, I have it all hung on a wall leading down to the basement. This particular wall doesn't get much light. Thus, the perfect place for some happy plaid.

The girls squealed.

The hubby likes it.

So, it's stayin'.

27 days until the first day of fall....

*sigh*

♥

Soda Pop Caddy

A refreshing soda pop in a glass bottle---complete with straw of course---is one of the nicer things in life. At least I think so. I'm easy to please, I suppose.

But what to do with the handy cardboard carryin' case once yer soda's been sipped?

Why, make it into a handy dandy soda pop caddy, of course!!

I found that the 10.75 oz soup cans are the appropriately snug size—PERFECT to replace those empty ole bottles. Peel the labels from the cans. And don't forget to wash & dry 'em!

Fill your caddy with art supplies, school supplies, handyman tools, your rare collection of swizzle sticks...You get the idea.
Make larger caddy's with the 6-packs!

Fits swell on a desk!

And the best part? It's portable!!

♥

First Day of School

Mommy likey.

♥

Tea-ny Tiny Notes

Lately, when I've been drinking my tea in the morning, I've been saving the little envelopes that the tea is packaged inside, certain I'd be able to find something to do with them in the near future. I came up with a silly fun way to recycle these envelopes: little notes to insert in my kids' lunchboxes.

You simply cut cardstock to a size that will fit inside.

(I cut these particular notes to 2 1/2" x 1 13/16".)

If desired, snip a decorative edge with some fancy schmancy scissors.

I left my notes pretty plain.

You could certainly make a tiny little card that folds in half.

Or embellish with inks or stickers, etc.

Write a tiny note & stick it in your kid's lunchbox!

(My kidlet's lunchboxes are waiting in the fridge as I write this, with tiny happy tea notes inside!)

Other ideas: fill out a month's worth of tea notes & give to a friend to open every day of the month.

♥

Summer Diary Day 97: Wall Art

Dear summer diary,

Today the girls taped up giant pieces of paper on the wall, got out all their art supplies & went to makin' some art.

And that was how they spent their last day of summer. Well, that AND playing outside, catching toads & watching movies. Zoey went on a breakfast date with daddy & his friends this morning while Pazely & I hung out at home listening to opera, crafting, & playing with Legos.

Both girls are SUPER DUPER excited for school to start tomorrow. I've already got their lunches packed. And forgive me if I do a little happy dance in the morning.

It's been a long summer. But we made it through!! Thanks to all who followed along in our 2011 Summer Diary Series. All your comments & messages meant the world to me! We hope you had fun peeking into our days this summer.

Farewell summer vacation. Until we meet again...

♥

Nikki

Summer Diary Day 96: Chinese Lanterns

Dear summer diary,
Today watercolors & paint brushes made an appearance. The girls decorated Chinese paper lanterns that I had leftover from Crafty Night in April 2011. I had purchased the lanterns & light kits online, although, if we lived in a big city they'd be readily available within a short drive. The girls are so proud of themselves & tomorrow we'll hang 'em in their rooms!
♥
Nikki

Summer Diary Day 95: Bubble Bath!

Dear summer diary,
Baths are fun. Especially when you include your sister & lots of bubbles.
♥
Zoey & Pazely

Summer Diary Day 94: Wildflower Adventure!

Dear summer diary,

FINALLY! Another adventure!! It's been a while since I've gone on a proper adventure. A proper adventure= friends, snacks, hydration, a camera & no map.

For the past two weeks, I had been noticing a bright yellow field off in the distance--both times I went school schopping with the girls. I decided to investigate. And I thought it would be fun to squeeze some wildflower pickin' into the day as well. I took the girls with me, along with my ever faithful adventurous friend, Susan.

The field ended up being sunflowers. We had so much fun! We also walked around a cemetery right next to the field. My girls have been to so many cemeteries on various adventures we've taken in the small towns around us. It kinda makes me giggle.

Before we finished playing with the sunflowers, we had to get a jumpy photo in. (And, yes, in the picture above, that is a 5 o'clock shadow in my armpit.)

It was SUCH a hot day. Like, gross hot. As in, get out of the car & your whole backside was drenched. YUCK!

We drove around nameless dirt roads in search of wildflowers. We found a few varieties. And we even found 2 GIANT grasshoppers doin' the nasty. EWWWWWW!!!!

We picked wildflowers until it got dark outside with storm clouds & started to rain. We enjoyed watching the lightning on our way home, trying to capture a streak or two with our cameras, but with no success.

It felt good to get home & shower. We were covered in a fine layer of adventure dust. I could even taste it. A quick supper & off to bed for the little ones. I'm pretty sure I went to bed with a smile on my face.

To view the complete set of pictures from our adventure, click HERE.

♥

Nikki



Today was a very good day.

I am finding myself evaluating my days, ever since my hospital scare & learning that I've been living a life of too much of stress & anxiety.
Some days are bad. Or very bad.  Some days good. Or very good. And the rest of the days are in-between very bad & very good. Today was a good day. Pretty much a very good day...

My 8 year old & I went school shopping. School supplies, a new backpack, & most of her school clothes for the Fall/Winter have been purchased. (New coats for the girls will come when we take a mini vacay to Denver in mid-September.)

I came home to find that the activity room of our church---which we're painting & fixing up & makin' all fancy---had acquired a couch, 2 sofa chairs, a card table & a sofa table: all for $10 at an auction! I've been giddy all afternoon & evening over this news because our youth group is gearing up for an event we're calling "5th Quarter", after every home game. All the kids/youth are invited to come hang out in that room for snacks, boardgames, XBox/Wii, a firepit outside & music blarin'. I've been dreaming & praying of making this room a cool space---& it's so awesome to see it all coming together, & to see such a quick answer to my prayers!

I had an AMAZING crafty brainstorming session this afternoon. Do you know how long it's been since I just sat & brainstormed? Pretty much since before moving to Nebraska over a year & a half ago. Ever since I had to slow down & take life easy (only 9 days ago), I have seen my long lost love for crafting & making come into the picture. It makes me happy. So very happy! And I even have a couple really cool crafty opportunities I've been asked to participate in. Something I've never done before & something I'm totally excited to do. Something that FORCES me to be crafty. And I love that. Because, when in the recent past have I been able to just craft, craft, craft to my heart's content? It's been a while. And I'm grateful for the return of the crafty flame flickering once again.

For dinner I had super yummy leftovers from the night before. The Mr. ate the 2-day old Chinese food & saved last night's supper for me. HERE is the link to find the 5-ingredient crockpot chicken recipe. (I cooked mine in the crockpot on low for 8 hours & the Mr. shredded the chicken halfway through while I was at work. He said it just fell apart on its own. It was deliciously creamy. And, not that it needed MORE cheese, but I shredded some & sprinkled it on top. Not the healthiest of meals. But super tasty!!)

The Mr. has some friends over for Monopoly now, the children have friends over & are playing outside---soon to come in & head to the playroom downstairs for movies & more playing. And I am delightfully holed up in my bedroom, laptop on the bed, crafty supplies sprawled everywhere, about to watch a movie on Netflix & finish knitting my lastest postcard to grandmother--(my favorite one yet!)

And I'm anticipating an adventure tomorrow afternoon. Picking wildflowers & investigating a rather curious yellow hill I keep seeing on the way to the mall these past two weeks with the girls. The munchkins, along with my friend & I, will get to the detective work sometime tomorrow mid-day. An adventure to cap off a rather happy weekend? Perfection.

Click HERE for the photo deets.

♥

Summer Diary Day 93: Shopping Part 2

Dear summer diary,
Las Saturday was Pazely's turn, today was Zoey's. It was time for another mommy/daughter date to go school shopping!
On our way to the mall we saw baby goats, & roadkill consisting of a rabbit, a deer & 2 racoon. We saw bright purple flowers & happy yellow mini sunflowers alongside the road. We even saw The Pony Express!!! (The famous journey that The Pony Express took is recreated every year.)


I got to hold my almost-9 year old's hand all afternoon. We shopped until our feet hurt, then Zoey picked where we went for lunch. And then we shopped some more. We found some super deals while shopping, including expandable marshmallow sticks in the Target $1 bin. (We scored the last 4!) And after every penny from my paycheck was spent, we headed home & did some online shopping. (Sadly, around here there aren't many choices for shopping.)

It's the first time I've ever gotten to go clothes school shopping with my girls & we had a BLAST!
Shopping for all these cool weather clothes makes me anxious for fall. I can't wait to have an afternoon to myself, when the girls are in school, & head to the thrift store to search for yummy scrummy cardigans & maybe find a cute belt & some long-sleeved plaid shirts. Oh, I can't wait!
5 days left of summer vacay...
♥
Nikki

Summer Diary Day 92: Ride

Bikes + Friends = Great Summer Fun

♥

Nikki

Summer Diary Day 91: HONK!

Dear summer diary,
Sometimes, an afternoon of summer fun simply means: standing on the corner with a sign that says HONK!...please.
♥
Nikki

Week in Review: August 8-14

A memorable week for me: The beginning of de-stressing after the hospital visit.

I've been doing pretty well at giving up tasks in my daily/weekly routine. That's the easy part.

But the emotional part is a slow process.I just wanted to thank all of you for the encouraging comments, emails, prayers & messages. You're the bestest & I appreciate your thoughtfulness!!

The extremely sore & slightly bruised hands are a reminder of the beginning of my new journey at attempting to slow down. It's a daily process. And not always easy.

I've enjoyed surrounding myself with friends: game night with friends, friends over for dinner, a spontaneous late-night campfire with a friend. (Surprise happy mail from friends!)

I'm breathing deeply & actually very excited to S-L-O-W down.

Click HERE for a photo play-by-play.

♥

Summer Diary Day 90:Wednesdays

 

Dear summer diary,

Every Wednesday, while my 2 munchkins are having a blast at church in a class with kids their own age, I get to hang out with a bunch of teenagers in the youth group, Connections. Specifically, I plan games & activities every week. Just 15-25 minutes of get-to-know-you ice breakers. I love working with the youth & young adults! (The photo shows a game we played tonight called "The Shoe Game".)

I'm rather excited about some events we have coming up throughout the school year. Particularly, an event we've called 5th Quarter. I've found out that high school sports (especially football & basketball) are a HUGE deal in small towns. So, after every home game -through the football & basketball season- ANYONE & EVERYONE is invited back to the Activity Room at our church, New Life Assembly, sponsored by Connections Youth Group, to hang out & chill in a safe & welcoming environment. We'll have the firepit set up outside, Wii &/or Kinect inside, boardgames, snacks, & music.

Friday, August 26th kicks off the first of many 5th Quarter's! It's a BACK-TO-SCHOOL BASH directly after the Gatorade Scrimmage in Bridgeport. Along with all the firepit fun, games, snacks & music, we'll be munching on hotdogs & hearing a short inspirational message!

It'll be an awesome way to celebrate the beginning of a new school year!

And, on a side note, I CANNOT WAIT for high school football to start! Being on the field, camera in hand, surrounded by all that energy, gets me EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

♥

Nikki