Finding Fall Giveaway!

So since I've just started this lil old blog of mine I am not doing giveaways, HOWEVER I will post about one being hosted on other blogs! There is no doubt about the fact that I <3 free stuff.

So head on over to Vphonegirl and enter to win.

  Here's just a glimpse at the Fall Inspired Prizes!



1st Prize - Autumn Mini Canvas Set and 

2 Handmade Embroidered Towels

2nd Prize - Fall Faves Accordion Book

3rd Prize - Harvest Photo Wallet Set





Each winner will take home a set of theFinding Fall Tags too! 

Be sure to visit the co-hosts and bff Amy at Lovebug and her lil Sis at Life-n-Reflection for so much more!! 

*please note that I am not connected to this giveaway in any way and am not being compensated for posting about it in my blog. Giveaway information and photos are from the hosting blog vphonegirl.blogspot.com

Finger painting!

So this is a project that the monkey and I did a few months ago. We joined the hubby in South Dakota in April and I swear it rained all of April and May. Like literally rained almost EVERY.SINGLE.DAY! Not only was i going crazy from being stuck in the house I was going crazy trying to keep the little monkey from climbing the walls, the chairs, and anything else she could get her little fingers on. So I crusied on over the Pintrest and found this. Finger painting sounded fun so I grabbed a three pack of canvases and some Crayola washable finger paints.



 (If you prefer to make your own head over here to Easie Peasie to find out how to make your own.) I totally recommend it because monkey tried to eat the paint and even though it is non-toxic I really don't want her eating it.

Supplies Needed:

canvas
newspaper or something to put on the floor
painter's tape
finger paint (store bought or homemade)
paper plate

So supplies in hand I endeavored on our first ever craft project and other then her attempting to eat the pain it went well.

I started by taping some old newspapers to the kitchen floor, squeezed out some paint onto a plate (note to self: use paper next time, to hard to clean), and taped off a word on the canvas using painter's tape and we where ready to roll.

It may have taken her a minute to get used to the idea of painting but once she figured it out, it was full steam ahead! (note her trying to eat the paint on the left) Monkey even tried painting with her feet!

And here's the end result....

The plan is to let her paint Faith and Love, buy some inexpensive frames and hang them in her room. I also will not give her all four colors next time because this one turned out more brown then anything else. Not so cute for a little girl's room. Oh well, you live and learn right?

Fall frenzy

As many of you out there know, fall is kind of a crazy time. The kiddos are going back to school, regular activities are coming back in full swing and that leaves little time for mamma to get much done.

 I have started two of the projects on my sewing list: a cover for my Kitchen-Aid stand mixer and budget envelops. I am super excited that the hubby and I will be taking Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University in January and these fabric money envelops will be a great way to help us budget. As soon as I have these projects finished I will post detailed instructions and links to where I found them, however I found that I am in desperate need of a rotary cutter and a self healing mat. You can do sewing projects without one but MAN is it hard! I may even have to re cut the pattern pieces that I already have done because I may or may not have cut them wrong. :o/ Whoops!

Here is a sneak peek of my projects:

This is the beginning of my mixer cover. The tutorial that I found is
actually for a reversible cover but I do not plan on reversing mine.
I mean really, how ugly is that green floral? But I have had it for
YEARS because on of my (sorority) sisters bought it to cover their little sister's book and then decided they didn't like it. So they gave it to me. Maybe they think I have bad taste or that I like ugly fabric. Oh well, free is free! I also picked up this denim of the outside at a yard sale. I got a box of fabric for $2.00! I love the denim so that will be the outside and the green flowers will be the lining.









And these are the beautiful fabrics that I am using for my fabric envelops! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them! They are so cute and pretty. I picked up four fat quarters at the fabric store last time I was in Sioux Falls and then I found two more in my craft supplies hiding in the garage. This was the project where I realized that I HAVE to get a rotary cutter, a self healing mat, and a ruler. Cutting out perfect squares by hand is NO FUN! (and i kinda stink at it.)






So there you have it. Everything that has been going on out here in the country. Check back soon and hopefully I will have actually finished something! lol. :o)

Fab giveaway!

*This giveaway has now ended. Thank You!*


There is a fab giveaway going on over at delightful designs and it has been extended until tomorrow!

Enter to win an amazing Kate Spade bag. seriously! Go now.

Kate Spade give away

A woman's look at 28...

Since moving out here to the country I have been really struggling with adjusting and finding my independence.  So I began to wonder, is 28 to young to be having a mid-life crisis? Or am I simply 3 years late for a quarter life crisis? I think this change of life /crisis/whatever this is is really the reason for starting a blog. I have a serious lack of direction so i have decided that this blog is here by dedicated to finding my groove, making our house a home, and really whatever else my ADD self feel like blogging on. There will be some crafting, some cooking, some money savin' and some serious restyling of my person. A 1 year old really should not have better style then me, i mean really? I dress her I should be able to dress myself, right?

Let the fun begin!

how did we get here?

So how did we get here and where is here exactly? I never thought that I would be a housewife in a smallish farming town in South Dakota but that is exactly where I find myself today. I think I really have to thank the crappy economy and the fact that I was born and raised in the heart of the Michigan auto industry for this. When things went south there I was studding to be an elementary school teacher, my dream was to teach kindergarten and get married to my best friend and raise our children where we had always lived. 

The funny thing about dreams is that as you grow older and life intervenes, they change, they have to. So I guess it's time for me to find a new dream and I am inviting all of you along for the ride. I have no idea how this is going to turn out but I hope to have a lot of fun trying.

Since moving to the country a few things have stood out to me; 1.) there is NOTHING to do here (compared to what I am used to) 2.) I HAVE to make some friends and 3.) I have got to get a hobby. I needed a plan of action and right now it goes a little something like this:

• Meet people
• Find a hobby
• maybe start a blog?
• get my but off of Pintrest! that site is like crack when you have lots of ideas and nothing to do.

Status check:

• Joined a church that I like and hope to make some new friends. there seem to be a lot of families there with children around the age of my little monkey
• found MOPS! *insert hallelujah chorus* Moms of Preschoolers (and younger) ie: women like me!!! So happy about this. I have not really meet a lot of women because we will not start meetings for another 2 weeks but everyone that I have meet has been super nice and very welcoming.
• took my mom's 1970 something sewing machine down to this great little store in Sioux Falls and got it all fixed up and ready to roll. I think that I will try some sewing projects not only to keep me busy but because there are like 2 stores here (no lie) and I just can not find the things that I want and I really don't like the prices of them online. If little ole non-crafty me thinks "hmmm.. I bet I could make that" It really couldn't be that hard. I'm not nuts I do know what it beyond my limited crafting ability.
• Bought some second hand furniture to use in monkey's "big girl" room. I got a dresser, a glider and ottoman (i never got one when I was prego) and a toddler bed for $30. the plain is to paint everything white, recover the glider (MAJOR project! it will most likely be months before that project gets posted) and redo the child sized rocker from my grandmother's house. Right now it's black with a yellow vinyl seat and it has been like that for as long as I can remember. I never got to do up a nursery because Monkey has never had her own room before so i really want to make a nice girly retreat for my munchkin.
• I started this Blog, so i guess that step is done.
  
  AND...
• I probably will not get off Pintrest because there are such great ideas about stuff to do!