Thursday, December 31, 2009

The Christmas tree has been put away...


It took half the day yesterday just to remove the lights! I'll miss it though... I love the colorful lights and warm glow it gave the room.
Tonight is New Year's Eve! We went out for New Year's Eve once... Crazy. Yup, crazy. Now we stay home. ;)

Now it's all about great food, good movies and fun games.

We are having meatballs in a sweet sauce, cucumber toasties, steamed mussels in butter and garlic, potato skins loaded with bacon, cheese, scallions and sour cream and a delicious looking caramel turtle cheesecake for dessert. Not all at once mind you. These things need to be spaced out and revisited throughout the night.
We'll begin our meal watching one of the two Netflix movies we received in the mail. I think we'll start with "9". After that is over we'll play a little Wii bowling to work off some calories so we can hit the yummy food again. We'll finish evening with "A Perfect Getaway". While nibbling of course...
After that we shall sleep soundly in our food induced comas. Sounds like the perfect evening and great way to start the year to me!
Be safe everyone!

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Christmas Pajamas

I made all the little one's flannel pajamas for Christmas eve. Jacob's were made from some fabulous pirate fabric, Johnna's from sweet little blue birds and Scarlett's from cute little zoo animals.

I enjoyed making them so much that I think I'm going to add them to my Handmade by Celyn shop in 2010!

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Pattern Play

Barnyard Ball PDF

My Little Pocket Bib PDF

This week's Talented Team Member is Pattern Play!
Get a jump start on those 2010 baby gifts by purchasing these awesome sewing patterns. Everyone loves a handmade gift!
Visit Pattern Play's shop for other awesome patterns! http://www.patternplay.etsy.com

Monday, December 28, 2009

Jumpstart on 2010

Happy belated holidays everyone!

We had a fantastic Christmas! :)

One of my New Year's resolutions will be to faithfully post to my blog at least once a day, even if it's only a photo or a few short words. I missed yesterday (Sunday). And the weekend was pretty lazy... so I'll just start with our dinner menu and what I'm thankful for.

This week's menu:
Monday - Chicken in garlic and olive oil with farfalle pasta and garlic bread.
Tuesday - Albondigas soup.
Wednesday - Leftover soup and sandwiches.
Thursday - New Year's Eve! Mussels in butter and garlic, Oysters Rockefellar, Cucumber toasties and Chocolate Trifle.
Friday - Creole black beans and sausage over white rice.
Saturday - Chicken and dumplings.
Today I am thankful for hot showers and warm clean socks. It's cold out there!

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Crafting Diet




I'm a glutton for punishment. Seriously, I sign up for things, procrastinate and then stress myself out to finish on time. I always finish but I lose sleep doing it. Too bad I wasn't losing weight from the anxiety. ;)
In two weeks I need to have 42 squares of different sizes done for a crocheting swap. Now I had months to work on them. When do I start? Now of course. I almost have one set finished.
Did I mention I signed up to swap a handmade sock monkey?
Oh, and I signed up to swap a handmade scarf...
Then there's the Christmas ornament swap I signed up for...
Do I ever think about the fact that I also have two toddlers? A business? Excuse me, two businesses... errr three now.
I have 2 custom orders pending. One I haven't finished designing and one I'm waiting for a key component for. I should be finishing the design...
Why do I do this to myself?! ... Because it makes me happy! I already received my first set of crocheted squares from a fellow crocheter and it made my day! I love to make things and I love to receive things other people have made!
Okay, I'm off to make dinner. Chicken and broccoli in the crock pot. That makes my family happy. :)



Monday, June 15, 2009

Landslide Victory!


Sarah from saladforbreakfast has won the Cosmic gift box for her dad in a landslide victory! Congrats Sarah! Your prize is on its way to the post office right now!
We hope her father enjoys his gifts and we wish all dads a very happy and safe Father's day.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Funny Dad Story Contest


These are the submissions for our "Win Dad a Cosmic Gift Box" contest! Contestants had to submit a funny story about their dad/or children's father. Vote for your favorite on the right.

The winner will receive:
1 bar of Essence of Mars (manly scent) soap
1 bar of UFO Lawn Job (green grass scent) soap
1 crocheted bath puff.1 Bay Rum scented sachet
1 “DAD” fused glass keychain

Voting ends June 14th at midnight. The winner will be announced June 15th.
Good luck everyone!

(You can visit these talented Etsian's shops/sites by clicking on their names.)

mamaslittlemonkeys says:
Ok, mine's not fall off your chair funny...but it tickled me!: ) The other day my son (age 3.5) told my husband, "Daddy..you're fat like the hungry caterpillar.":) LOL DH does have a little bit of a belly but isn't overly large...aparently its enough for a 3 yr old :)

saladforbreakfast says:
I can't believe I forgot about this thread!!! Ok I'm here now. Here is my story. Err...brace yourselves.When I was a little kid, I used to LOVE reading! I preferred my books over cartoons and my barbie dolls. I even had a huge library in my room! Well, I also used to be a very curious kid...and go into other people's books. My parents had their books in the library in the guest room and I thought "Hmm...I wonder what these big huge books are!" So I picked out this book on biology and got to reading. I was so fascinated with everything and kept reading until I came to this big word I didn't understand. So I figured I'd ask my dad about the meaning of this word at dinner time. The following conversation ensued:Me: (blurting it out loud while everyone is enjoying their meal) Daddy!!! What does "uncircumsized" mean???Dad: (looking stunned, chokes on food) Err...what? What...word, honey?Me: Uncircumsized!! What does it mean?Dad: Uhm...I don't know. Where did you hear this word?Me: I read it in your book! It said something like "All baby boys are born uncircumsized."(Mom trying not to giggle.)Dad: Oh. You'll have to show me this book because I really don't know!Well, we never discussed the meaning of the word ever again. All was forgotten and lost...until I turned about 13 or so and stumbled upon the word again AND its definition. THAT'S when I thought "OMG! I can't believe I was asking him that!" Yup, totally mortifying. I still giggle about it every now and then. It brings a true smile to my face.

Quiltingdiva says:
I grew up in Maine and my dad is a big goober (love him to death) but goober Redneck comes to mind. anyway, I was in high school and I had to call him collect for a ride or something. The automated system says "You have a collect call from Stacy, will you accept the charges". My dad is a man of many many many many words so he can't keep it to a simple yes, he says "yuh yuh, I'll pay for the call". Automated system does not like his answer so she restates the question and again, my dad says "oh yuh, yuh, I'll accept the charges". DUH!! I think he eventually got it, but I wanted to scream in the phone.... "DAD JUST SAY YES!!!". I love my dad :)


reduxredux says:
Great thread! The stories posted so far had me ROFL!So here's mine...Scene: Urban street on a college campus; An 18 y/o freshman and her dad are walking down the street on the first day of Parent's WeekendMe (stage whisper): Psst! Dad-that was my math teacher who just passed us.Dad (outraged): What?! He didn't even say hello?! Why, I oughta..!!! Of all the nerve!Me: Dad, there's a million kids in that class. He probably doesn't recognize me.Dad: What do you mean he doesn't know you? You're in his class!!![THEY ENTER A PUB TO GRAB A SANDWICH FOR LUNCH.]Bartender: Hi Carole! How's it going?Dad: Oh, great. Just great. Your math professor doesn't recognize you, but the bartender knows you by name![CLOSE-UP OF A VERY EMBARRASSED, TOTALLY BUSTED DAUGHTER]

Funny stuff!

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Wet Wednesday

It’s supposed to rain on and off all day today so I’m just doing little things to keep busy. Like washing the wall Jacob decided to be artistic on… Besides that, I have pictures to take and a TON of glass pieces to assemble. Maybe I’ll fire up the kiln and finish a couple of pieces…
The kids had a great time playing outdoors yesterday. I can’t wait until it’s nice enough outside to play every day. And we had a fabulous dinner! Leftovers tonight! I listed these on Etsy last night.

They are scented sachets. Beautiful and functional! I made them from fabric remnants from my friend Lori over at www.cozycabinmom.etsy.com . Her pillowcase dresses rock!
John made a Home Depot run yesterday and got new sand for the kid’s sandbox and things to wash the deck. Guess what we are doing this weekend? LOL!
I’m off…

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Happy St. Patty’s Day!

It’s going to be a beautiful day! The sun is shining, I have my day planned and we are going to have a fabulous dinner.

Please excuse my absence… I am back on track… I hope…
I have vowed not to take on anymore long term commitments for quite a while.

With that being said, I finished hosting and coordinating the 2009 Magless Exchange!
I honestly could not have done it without John. He really did most of the work. I just made sure all the ducks were in a row and answered all the correspondence.
I think because the participation number was down this year, the level of difficulty was way up! It was quite an experience. I made a walnut using the freeze and fuse method. I learned quite a lot.

Yesterday I tangoed with my sewing machine and it nearly won but I declared victory in the end. New product shots coming soon! Now onto the camera…

I was up until 1am last night banging my head against a wall over my crappy pictures and finally gave in and read the camera manual. Wow! Go figure! They actually tell you how to operate the thing and give you instruction on improving your pictures. Why I have to be so stubborn about reading directions I’ll never know. So today I’m going to FOLLOW the DIRECTIONS and see if I can’t improve on my product pictures. Any help/suggestions are welcome.

Besides taking pictures, it’s going to be 60 degrees today and the kids need some fresh air! We’ll be heading out on the deck for some sunshine and play before nap time. Now I know I’ll get a good picture out there!

Tonight for dinner we are having corned beef, cabbage, potatoes and carrots. And if I have time I’m going to make John some brownies for dessert. It’s going to be awesome!