Silhouette Cameo giveaway....again!!

It's that time again!!! I have yet another chance to win this awesome machine! Maybe the third time is the charm!!

Go to these sites for more details!!

Tatertots and Jello
the Idea room

Audrey's "whobilation," invite!

I am going to be doing a "whobilation," whoville type theme for Audrey's birthday party. I gave her the choice between this and a couple of others and she chose this theme! It doesn't surprise me because she loves the Grinch and Cindy Lou Who and all. Anyways, it should be a fun party. The hardest part for me was figuring out the invitations and what wording to use on the invitations. I finally was able to come up with it and I love how it turned out! I will post more pictures from her party next week. This is what the invite said:

Come one, come all to celebrate the cutest "who," of all,
Audrey Lou
Who will be turning not two but 4!
Head on over this way where you may stay
**Input address**
and celebrate her birthday on December the 28th day
**Insert time**

Please RSVP to Lisa at *Insert phone number.**

30 "rocks"

Brandon turned 30 today!! A few months ago I asked him how he felt about turning 30 and he was kind of indifferent but did say that he wasn't too happy about it. Ever since then I have been thinking of ways that I can make his "30th," birthday awesome! I have seen all over pinterest different ways you can decorate for a 30th birthday party. There are a ton of cute ideas but none of them really fit to how I wanted Brandon's 30th to be celebrated. I of course wanted to go all out on his 30th too, but he didn't want me to. But I was able to sneak a few decorations in today. One of which I came up with all by myself. I have seen a lot of people using succors and saying "30 sucks," which is a really cute idea. But I wanted to make it more positive. So I came up with the idea of buying pop rocks and making that into a bouquet that says "30 rocks." I love how it turned out! We are keeping it low key around here today per Brandon's request. So I decided that I would make it a special day for him with our little family. I made him some breakfast, made him his all time favorite "Pineapple upside down cake," and am making him roast and potatoes for dinner tonight! Should be a good day!

Oh I have to give a major shout out to Audrey. We bought him a movie for his birthday and she kept it a secret until today! Not only that but the other day when we were putting his bouquet basket together and getting everything ready to decorate for his birthday she kept it a secret from him that whole time. Brandon even tried to get her to tell him, but she told him that she can't tell him because it's a secret!!! She is amazing at keeping secrets!!

Handmade gift exchange

I volunteered to be a part of a handmade gift exchange that this awesome blog is doing. I thought it would be fun to make a handmade gift for somebody I have never met before. It's been a great experience and my gift exchange partner seems so sweet. She should be getting my gift in the mail today or Monday so I really really hope she doesn't check my blog yet. I was actually done with her gift a few weeks ago and have been dying to post it.

My handmade gift is a pottery barn inspired piece and when I saw this idea on Pottery Barn's website I knew it would be perfect for Nicole because she and her husband work at a coffee shop and I thought it would be appropriate to make these for them. Not only that but her living room colors are green, purple and orange and that is why I chose the green. :) I really hope she likes it. I had a good time making this and the coasters to go along with it!! If you are reading this Nicole, thanks for being such a great gift exchange partner!! I will definitely be doing this again!

Spotlight of the week

My brother-in-law Josh was the spotlight last week. When Brandon went out of town a couple of weeks ago (a very rare occasion) for a job interview Josh stepped in and helped me out where it was needed. First my car decided to die on me the morning Brandon was leaving to Missouri. So because Brandon didn't have time to figure out what was wrong with it, Josh came over to my house after he got off work and figured out what was wrong with my car and tried to help fix it. Then, the next night we had our usual Friday night dinner at Grandpa's house and we had a really bad snow storm that night and those who know me know that I am TERRIFIED to drive in the snow. I seriously get some anxiety over it. Well, he and his family voluntarily followed me home to make sure we made it home safe. That's what kind of brother-in-law Josh is...awesome!!

A few facts about Josh:

*Josh is a die hard sports fan!
*He really is such a smart thinker.
*Josh can learn something and understand it the minute he learns it. He is so smart like that.

Thanks Josh for your help while Brandon was out of town. I really did appreciate it so much and you definitely deserved to be spotlighted!!!


PS. I really do have the best brothers and brothers-in-law. I know they all would have dropped anything to help me out while Brandon was out of town!

Young Womens Lesson 40 handout

This is the handout I made for my lesson today! Don't you love the paper? I love cute paper!

PS. I didn't win the Silhouette Cameo, just in case any of you were curious. :) Maybe someday...

Spotlight of the week

My nephew Emilio was the spotlight of  the week last week! Emilio is a Junior in High School. I cannot believe he is already 17. I was 10 when he was born so he has pretty much been around most of my life! And it seriously feels like I was just 17. It really is just so weird.

Emilio is such a great kid! He really is. He is the nicest 17 year old I know! He respects other people and usually cares about what you have to say.

Growing up Emilio loved bugs...still does. He would go catch bugs and hold them. One thing that he is not scared of is Spiders. I don't understand how he is not scared of them. I am terrified of them. Yuck. He has killed a couple of spiders for me because I was so scared to do it! He has a pet terrantula and other pets like that.

One of Emilio's favorite things he loves to eat is my Mom's cherry pie. She really does make the best cherry pie. Anyways, I didn't have time to make him a cherry pie nor can I make it as good as my Mom yet, so I just got him a box of those cutie pie cherry pies for him. He is very lucky I didn't steal one because I love those things!!!

Silhouette Cameo giveaway..second chance!!

Okay my friends, I am super super super excited to say that quite a few blogs are giving away the Silhouette Cameo again!!!! You have no idea how excited I am about this. Again, I know that I have probably a .1 percent chance of winning, but I am not going to give up!!!!!! I am determined to win this thing!

One of the blogs that I have tried to win from, is an awesome blog called "I heart nap time." I check up on her blog quite often. You all should check it out! www.iheartnaptime.net


Wish me luck guys!!!!!!

New hexagon bows

My sister-in-laws mother wanted me to make her granddaughters some bows for Christmas. I was able to raid through her fabric and found lots of cute designs! Anyways, I was making some of the bows today and was just experimenting with the fabric and came up with this design! I love how it turned out, so I made a bunch! Haha! I am not even sure if there are bows that are like these ones, and if there are than awesome! I just have not seen any the way I have made mine. I was happy that I was able to come up with this original design. I think they look even better on too! There is one picture where I had my daughter try it on for me but it's kind of blurry. Sorry about that.

Pink and Brown fabric tutu skirts!

My friend asked if I would make her girls a fabric tutu skirt like the ones I made for my girls. I obviously said yes and I am glad she did. They turned out so cute....at least I like to think so. :) I don't think you could ever go wrong with pink and brown. Love those colors. I told her that I would make some bows to match the skirts too and I love how they turned out too. What do you think?

Spotlight of the week

My little niece Bethany was chosen to be the spotlight this week. Bethany is just about 17 months old and is like an energizer bunny; she keeps going and going and going! Haha! That little girl has more energy than any little kid I know! She LOVES to talk too. It's funny because if you are around her she will seriously talk your ear off. There is never a dull moment when Bethany is around.

She really is such a cute baby! She has the longest, prettiest eyelashes ever! She was lucky and got the Robbins side eyelashes. Bethany is going to be a big sister come May!

Bethany loves to eat! So we chose to get her some snacks for her spotlight gift! I know you can't read yet, but we love you Bethany. We are glad you are a part of the family!

Halloween costumes- Wilma and Pebbles

As some of you know, we did a Flintstone theme for Halloween this year. Audrey was the perfect wilma, and Gracey was the perfect pebbles! We did not have a Fred. Brandon and I don't dress up for Halloween. We prefer to see our girls all dressed up! I already have a couple of ideas for costumes next year. I saw on pinterest a few weeks back an Audrey Hepburn costume. It was really cute. I would actually probably make it so that it is Utah weather proof! Haha! It's always cold on Halloween here; this year being the exception. Problem is I would have Audrey be Audrey Hepburn, except that my Audrey has blonde hair. So, it would probably work best on Gracey because she has darker hair. So, that's my dilemma. I am sure I will figure it out by next year. My other idea was having Audrey be a pirate. I saw a cute little girl pirate costume at a trunk or treat and I actually suggested to Audrey that she should be a pirate and she was so excited about that. So, we will see. I am sure she or I might change my mind about it later. :) My all time favorite costume on Audrey was her Cindy Lou Who costume last year! She was the best little Who out there and I would be tempted to do that costume again! :)

Anyways, I am just rambling on. Sorry. Here are the pictures of their costumes this year.

Scentsy and cute candles

I finally got a scentsy!! It only took me forever! Haha! My mother-in-law actually got it for my Birthday. I love it! I love the style of it, I love that it makes my house smell good, I love that it's totally safe with kids, I just love it!! :) She also made me these super super cute candles! I LOVE them!!!

Spotlight of the week

My sister-in-law, Anne was picked to be this weeks spotlight! Anne definitely deserves a little spotlight. She works full time and is a Mom to 3 kids plus 1 by marriage. But we just say 4 because she is so good with all of the kids and treats the other one just like she treats her other kids! She is such a great Mom! Anne has been through so much throughout her life and is such an amazingly strong person!! Anne is a fun person to be around and is so understanding! Anne really likes jewelry. I found an idea off of pinterest that I have wanted to do forever now and I finally was able to make it! I made her a necklace inspired by this lady that is sponsored by Ucreate!! I really hope Anne likes it! I may have to make me one too!!!

Silhouette Cameo

So this awesome website, Tatertots and Jello who I have been following for awhile now, is giving away a Silhouette Cameo on Sunday, which so happens to be my Birthday!!! So, I am aware that I have probably a .1 chance of winning this thing, but it doesn't hurt to try to win right?! I just needed to share this awesome giveaway to receive another entry for this Silhouette CAMEO!!! I really do need something like this, I mean you all have seen my not so creative handouts right?!! Oh the possibilites are endless with this thing! Anyways, if you want to enter go to that site. Woudln't it be awesome if I won this on my Birthday though?!!!!!

Spotlight of the week

My sister Holly was chosen to be the spotlight this week! Holly is an amazing photographer! It amazes me how awesome she is at what she does! Holly not only is amazing at doing photography but she is amazing at sewing, crocheting, scrapbooking, decorating, and doing anything crafty! She tought me how to crochet and scrapbook. She has helped me with my sewing needs too..especially figuring out how to work a sewing machine! Haha! I am terrible when it comes to sewing machines. For some reason I always have issues with them. Anyways, Holly is a great sister, mother, friend to everybody she meets! She is outgoing, social and so friendly!

Holly was telling me awhile back that she really loves Reese's peanut butter cups. I then decided to make her a bouquet of them for her spotlight gift! Audrey drew her a cute picture to go with it too! We love you Holly!

Spotlight of the week

Troy was the lucky winner this week! Well, I am a little late so technically his spotlight was last week. For those that don't know, Troy is my awesome brother-in-law! Troy is seriously one smart man! He really is. He is so funny and LOVES to tease others! I remember growing up and Troy would always tickle me when I was little. He now does that to Audrey and his other nieces and nephews. Oh man, I remember one time Troy was showing/telling me that one of his arms was longer than the other and I so thought he was serious! Lol!!! Oh man I can't believe I fall for his jokes sometimes...still! Haha! Sometimes I don't know when he is serious and when he is joking because he has a great poker face! It took me a minute but I think I have kind of figured him out! Haha!

One of the things that I enjoy is listening to Troy tell stories. He just is one of those people that when he talks you just want to listen to him.

Troy loves loves loves to go fishing and hunting!!! He is so great at it too!

One of Troy's famous words when he kisses Audrey and his other nieces and nephews is he always says "Wowee," after he kisses them. Audrey really did like it when he did that!

He can be very intimidating when you first meet him too. He sometimes still intimidates me! Haha!

He has the best laugh too!

Troy isn't really too keen on sweets, so my sister told me that one of his favorite things to snack on is the dill pickle sunflower seeds! So that's what we decided to get him for his spotlight gift! (Sorry no pictures).Audrey drew him a cute picture and even wrote his name on it (which she was very proud of by the way). Audrey really loves her Uncle Troy as do the rest of us!

Fabric tutu skirts

I decided to make a tutu skirt for Gracey for family pictures too. I posted about this skirt on Audrey about a few weeks ago and it looked more like a pirate costume then. I made some changes to it and they turned out so cute...especially on the girls! Here is a picture of my sweet, beautiful girls!!

If anybody is interested in buying a fabric tutu skirt let me know! I will make one for you! :)

Hair bows

I made some more hair bows. I found this tutorial from pinterest. It was so easy to make and I kind of really like the way they turned out. They look even better on the person!

Young Women lesson handout on dating decisions

The Young Women's president gave us these magazines to give to the girls for this lesson. I thought it was a great idea to do that. There is so much good information in this magazine for the young women to read through as a guide for when they start or are dating! I decided to add a personal letter to each of my beehives and put it on the front of the magazine. Then I made a handout that says "I hope you choose a stud, and not a "Dud." :) Meaning, I hope while they are dating they choose a guy that has the same values as them and that will treat them like queens and respect them! The girls really loved this handout!

I really wish I had a cricut or silhouette or any kind of awesome device like those, so that I can make cuter handouts. But since I don't have one and since I hardly have any scrapbooking supplies I will just have to deal with boring looking handouts for awhile! :) 

Spotlight of the week: Devin

My cute little nephew Devin was chosen to be the spotlight of the week this week! Devin is such a fun loving little kid and is so good with kids younger than him. He loves his cousins so much and would do anything for them. He has such a cute smile and personality and can make friends easily. He kind of isn't really a fan of being teased. Haha! I think it's kind of funny! Brandon still loves to tease him though as I am sure his family does too!

My sister-in-law Kim, told me about this awesome deal Target was having on their transformers; where you can get a transformer for $.20 cents each or others for $.34cents or more. Yup you read that right!! Isn't that amazing?!?!?!?!?! I wish I would have printed off a ton more coupons before they took them off of their site because that is an amazing deal. So, that is what I decided to get Devin for his spotlight gift; and I did get one for my husband too! :) It fit well under my budget of $2.00 for spotlight gifts, so I was pretty dang happy and hope Devin was too!


**If you have a smart phone you can still get a $5.00 off  Target coupon for the transformers. It lasts until the 14th. I have no idea how you can get that coupon on your phone though. I am not that savvy when it comes to phones; especially a phone that I don't have!**

Wilma costume

I finished Audrey's costume! I found out how to make this costume from this site. I would definitely go to that site for the step by step instructions. She explains it a lot better than me...trust me! But because I already have the pictures posted I am going to just tell you how I did it. I just suggest if you want more detailed instructions, to go to that site because I forgot to take pictures of some of the steps! Sorry.

I took a plain white sheet and folded it over itself twice so that you end up having 4 pieces when you cut out your pattern. I used one of Audrey's dresses to use as a pattern.

This is what mine looked like after I cut it out. There are 4 layers here, you just can't see it. 

Then you cut one of the shoulders off. It should look something like this. After I did that, all I did was pinned it and sewed it. From experience, don't sew the arm and neck holes!! Haha! Just the sides. That's what I get for being too anxious to get this done! (Thanks to my friend Crystal for letting me borrow her sewing machine). One day I will invest in a sewing machine!

Anyways, you will need to sew the top part of the shoulder pieces together too. I just did all 4 shoulder pieces at the same time. It worked for me and was faster.

The dress part of Audrey's costume was a bit short. So I had to come up with something to make it longer. So I just decided to make a fabric tutu skirt out of the leftover fabric I had. I cut out strips to the desired length and then cut the ends to make it look kind of like Wilma's. I just made slip knots in each strip and slipped it on a piece of ribbon. It's so easy doing it this way. The best part of this costume is it only cost me barely $2.00. Saweeeet!!!!

I really am loving how it turned out. Here in Utah, it's usually pretty cold on Halloween. So, when she is trick or treating you might not be able to tell what she is dressed up as. We usually need to bundle the kids up. Oh well.

Oh and if any of you didn't see my post about the wilma necklace I just made it out of white gumballs. :)



Halloween candles

I finally got around to letting the girls make these ever so popular Halloween candles. Instead of using jars we used plastic cups, and instead of using tissue paper we used orange crepe paper, and black Halloween character stickers. I did also use the flameless tealights for these. Definitely a lot safer with kids!

Here are the girls version of these Halloween candles:

Livy's version!

Audrey's simple candle version. She did not want a lot of stickers on her's and that's totally fine. I always love to see their unique style from each craft that we do! 

Halloween placemats

I bought some Placemats in the dollar bin at Target for the girls to color and use for whenever they eat breakfast, lunch or dinner. Livy gets to use hers for lunch on the days that she is here. She is pretty proud of how her's turned out and told me to tell everybody that comes over to look at her placemet! Haha! Audrey did a great job too. Gracey wanted to color her own one as well. I even joined in and colored one with them. I have not finished mine yet, hence the reason I have not posted mine. Audrey and Livy thought it was so cool that I was coloring with them. It's funny how the simple things make kids so happy! I usually don't do these crafts with them because I am usually finishing the stuff that they can't do on these projects. So funny! This was a super cheap/simple project and fun for the kids too!

Livy's placemat.

Audrey's placemat. 

New background and template

I changed my blog background/template. I really loved the old one, but I kind of needed a background that seemed more inviting and happy. I kind of really like it and hope you do too!!

I kind of wish I had that couch that's on the header too!

Spotlight of the week

The spotlight of the week this week is............Jayson! Jayson is my brother-in-law. He is married to my sister-in-law Kim. Can I just tell you that Audrey LOVES Jayson!!! She really does. She will listen to him more than she will listen to me!! Ever since the day Audrey was born, Jayson has been so sweet to Audrey. He is such an awesome uncle to his nieces and nephews. He makes big sacrifices to play with her and the other kids, even if he really does not want to. He will go out of his way to make sure Audrey is happy and having fun. I am so glad Audrey has somebody like him to make a huge impact on her life!

Other facts about Jayson:

He can speak/read chinese! Isn't that awesome?!
He loves popsecret popcorn
He loves chocolate and any sour candy
He loves to play the game Chess!
He loves fun/different kinds of chopsticks.
He is the best uncle any little kid could ask for
He is a very smart!
He always makes you feel comfortable when you are around him.
He grew up in a small town, called Morgan.
He is very easy going


Thanks for being such a great brother-in-law and great uncle to Audrey, Jayson!! You are definitely a "Jack of all trades." :)

Homemade halloween picks

I was making cupcakes yesterday and wanted to make some halloween ones, but didn't have any sprinkles that were Halloween, I didn't have any picks to put in the cupcakes that were Halloween, I didn't have any Halloween cupcake liners, nothing. So, I was thinking of what I could do to decorate these with something that I had in my Halloween craft stuff. I bought some Halloween stickers at the dollar store last week and saw my toothpicks laying on the counter and put two and two together and came up with these homemade Halloween picks. I really really wish I had Halloween sprinkles and cupcakes liners, because it would have made these cupcakes look so much cuter! Oh well.

The best part about these picks is Audrey was able to do it for me! It was the perfect way to let her help me with the cupcakes and without making a huge mess. She loved it and it kept her entertained for awhile! It's a win win situation!

More ideas to use with my pumpkin decoration idea

So some of you may think this is a bit corny, but maybe there are a couple of you out there that might think this idea is funny. I was actually quite proud of myself for coming up with this idea. :) For the tag for the treat I put this saying.....

.... "You are a "JACK" of all trades." Get it? This is supposed to be a jack-o-lantern so that's where I came up with the phrase. I think it works perfect when putting in different kinds of chocolate too. It is very fitting don't you think? 

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This is my second idea to use with this cute pumpkin out of a cup idea! I put a cupcake in it. I got my inspiration to put a cupcake in this from other websites that put their cupcakes in a jar, but when I used the napkins to cover the cup I knew that it would be awesome to have a yummy treat in there and that way you can use the napkin that is wrapped around it, to help clean up any messes from that treat! I was pretty happy that I came up with this idea too. :)

Kid craft- Witch hats

I am sure others have made witch hats like this, but I didn't look to see how to make one. I just came up with it with the supplies I had at home. I used a paper plate, construction paper, and a cup and then craft decorations for the girls to decorate these with. It was so easy and so cheap because I already had all of the stuff! I do need to find a better way to help keep the hats on the girls. So if you have a better way, go for it!

Here are their hats:

Audrey and my niece Hazel.

Hazel