Our Holiday Blessings


This year has brought my little family many many blessings
all of which made this holiday season so very special.


Our beautiful baby girl
has brought so much joy and love into our lives.
Always smiling and has recently mastered rolling over. 
Everyone says she looks just like her daddy.
She's a daddy's girl all the way,
just the sound of his voice makes her giggle with delight 
and can wake her from her slumber.
She has a strong little spirit,
and will no doubt be bossing her
 "big" brother around in no time.


Our little man is growing up! 
15 months and so very very quick on his feet.
He's especially determined at all times 
to get his hands on anything electronic,
but turn on some music and you've quickly got his attention. 
He loves our puppy dogs, his stuffed froggy,
and has recently started to enjoy his little sisters' company.
He's a little guy... already miss Annalea out-weighs him.
We lovingly call him Annalea's big-little brother.
We are anxious to wrap up the adoption hopefully early this spring.


As you can imagine with two babies just 7 and half months apart 
I'm a very busy momma!



This was our first Christmas as a family. 
We stayed home this year - traveling with the babies is hard on us all.
We had such a nice quiet day, but it was no less special.
Although of coarse we did miss our families and can't wait to see them
all in the new year. 

~

I wanted to make this Christmas special for my hubby
but I don't exactly get paid for changing diapers all day.
So I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and painted 
him a picture of our family... Snowman style.
Despite my best efforts it's still not quite finished. 
But for pretty much never ever painting 
I'm pretty happy with the way it's turning out.
We also wanted to celebrate Hubby's two big new titles this year
Becoming a Boss Man, and a DADDY!


Christmas Eve hubby surprised me with a gorgeous holiday bouquet.
This November we celebrated 10 years of being a couple!


And as usual he spoiled me rotten for Christmas
with two beautiful new necklaces.


From new beginnings to celebrations of a beautiful life together
we have so very much to be grateful for as 2013 comes to a close.

A Giveaway & Some New kind of Pretties


If you're a fan of YoYo Pretties
you may be interested in a little giveaway 
One lucky little girl will receive a custom made YoYo hair pretty!
Winner will be announced Dec. 1st.
~
After 5 years of making YoYo's I'm starting to experiment
with new materials. 
Lately I've been really inspired to create pretty things 
out of old worn out materials.
These are my first creations made from a pile of Jeans
that have been sitting in my closet collecting dust 
and taking up valuable space.
These were Jeans with paint/stains, ragged hems, ripped knees, 
and missing buttons - so pretty much unwearable or worthy of donating.
I'd started cutting them up for a friend to use for making levi quilts,
and that's when I realized that I didn't need to throw out the seams.
Along with the bold stitching I especially love the look of the frayed edges.
I've got handfuls of scraps left and a noggin full of ideas yet to explore.





What about you, do you like to upcycle?
What unusual materials have you played around with lately?

6 Months


Oh my goodness,
my sweet little pickle is 6 months old today.
Where does the time go?


My sweet Annalea is such a silly little thing.
She loves her daddy best 
- or at least that's what we let him think.
She likes playing with her toes, nibbling her tiny tasty fingers 
and sharing them too. 
She likes to get into screaming battles
 with daddy on facetime,
and thinks carrots are the best new treat yet.
Sometimes a little bashful, but mostly smiley 
and happy to be held by friends and family. 



All digi goodies from my Springtime collection
available at my Kitschy Digitals Shop.

Too Cute to Spook


With two babies to care for I wouldn't exactly say I've got the luxury of "me" time.
Life has drastically changed that's for certain,
but if momma aint happy... well you know.
So even though I'm swimming in laundry
it's important that I make time to let my creativity out of the box so to speak.
Unfortunately, a lot of the projects I want and need to be working on
really require me to sit down and dedicate an hour or two of my time in one sitting.
So those projects are left for the occasional evenings when I actually have an ounce or two 
of energy left after getting my two little monsters off to dream land.


It's been bothering me for a while that I didn't have much of any
halloween decorations, and with all my friends pinning 
spooky fun projects left and right
I couldn't help but get in the ghostly spirit of things
 - and luckily a few months early!
The first project I actually have to thank my amazing 
mother-n-law for. I sent her the inspiration and she worked her magic.
Together we added glitter, tulle, lighting, and a bow-tie.
I think he is perfectly charming.


I've been collecting sweaters for awhile now
intending to make christmas stockings.
But I have a pretty good feeling that yet another year 
is going to pass on that project.
But it seems like everyone is on the sweater pumpkin bandwagon
this year - so why not me!?
Pretty much all I came across was country style creations.
But that's just not me.
Nope I need color, whimsy, 
and in my humble opinion everything is better
with eyeballs and a happy lil' grin.  


of coarse you can decorate them up any way you like.
but I worn you - these puppies are HIGHLY addictive.
You can whip up a pumpkin in just 10-15 minutes.



This fellow is my favorite. Instead of the others that are stuffed with fluff
and even some grocery bags, 
this one is made with an old Styrofoam pumpkin 
that had seen better days and was just about to hit the curb.


This project was also great for using up odds and ends from previous projects.
I even found items in the junk drawer like some old plastic silly straws.
I swear sometime my need to hold onto things sure comes in handy.


I really think this would be a fun activity to do with kids too.
you could set up a smorgasbord of supplies and let their imaginations go wild.


Last but not least is my not so scary monster wreath.
It took me about a month of working on him just about every day
but I finally finished him last night.
Initially I planned on making him entirely out of tulle like the ones I saw
on Pinterest. But it took three 25yard rolls of tulle just to finish the outer rim
so it simply wasn't feasible to do the entire body.
So after some pondering I came up with the idea of black velvet.
I picked up 2 tanks and a child size dress for a quarter each at a local sale
(this is also where I picked up my sweaters)
and a woman's XL dress at a local thrift shop for around $3.
His pumpkin head was a hat worn by my little buddy this past weekend,
I figured it would be fun to incorporate it into the project
 instead of putting it away in a box or thrifting it.


His arms are made from a pair of ruffled sock leggings stuffing with grocery bags.
I just attached them with safety pins that way I could change him up year to year.


I'm so pleased that I was able to complete so many projects.
It's awesome to see big projects come together by just plugging away 
for 5-10 minute a day - for a few months :)

Happy Halloween Friends!

News, and BIG News


If you haven't spotted it yet
Kitschy Digitals just came out with a 
This puppy is sweet! It's a feast for the eyes,
and a great way to get those crafty juices flowing 
because as we all know the holiday season will be here lickety split.
So now's the time people,
Grab your needle and thread, and fill the printer with paper
because it's time to get your holiday craft'n on!


& if you're not quite ready for snow, and mistletoe
there are some spooktacular 
Halloween digi and sewing kits available.
Including my very own Day of the Dead inspired
wedding themed kit - A Sweet and Sinister Affair


& don't forget there is also a fantastic collection of
ready to print paper masks available - remember my 
Wizard of Oz collection?  


If you aren't sold yet, well then how about this...
ONLY through the Homemade Holiday Gift Guide
can you get 12 free digital downloads!!!!
I've included a little sample from my first 
embroidery kits called Christmas Cuties
that I hope to have available by the end of the month.
I'm super excited about this new adventure,
but sadly I'm pretty much a disaster when it comes to the art of
embroidery, but maybe with a little practice
I'll get the hang of it soon enough.
~
shhhhhhhhhhhh! This isn't quite official,
but the little cutie up-top is soon to be a part of our family.
Between him and his "sister" I'm a very busy and very very
blessed momma! But I will share more about our growing
family when our adoption is finalized in a few months.
EEEEK!







Show Girls


I was recently given the great privilege of making 3 piggy hair clips
for two adorable sisters who are involved in 4H.
I think it would be great if my own kiddos one day
participated in 4H and/or FFA. 
These organizations hold high standards 
for the personal development of our youth.
Giving them a strong sense of responsibility, self worth, 
and the skills needed to work on ones own and as a team. 
I don't know about you but I when I watch 
television shows such as Project Runway
I'm appalled at how completely self centered and 
ignorant the designers are when working on team projects.
I hope to teach my children to respect others
while holding fast to their own high standards.
Learning to communicate, compromise, and sometime be the bigger person
are at the utmost important for me to impress on my children.
*
plus bonus, bonus it's just one more excuse to doll up the kiddos.
Got to love Western wear!
So not only did I get to make their hair pretties but I also got to photograph 
these cuties in their darling show outfits. 
I honestly don't have a clue what I'm doing 
behind my camera but when you have such beautiful lil' models 
- how can you go wrong?
I've closed my shop. but I'm still very much in the business of making hair pretties.
I've simply prioritized my time to do what I love
CUSTOM WORK!
Visit (and like) my Yo-Yo Pretties facebook page to see my latest work
and to start a custom piece today.

Scrap Fabric Keepsake



There is no space in our home more special than our nursery.
It's truly been pieced together as a labor of love. 
So many DIY projects and fun vintage treasures.
but it's not quite done...
 I'm holding out hope that a package will arrive
that has been lost in the mail. 
So I thought today I would share with you one
of the projects that is very dear to my heart.


Inspired by the many many scrap fabric projects on Pinterest
I created a wreath using the receiving blankets that both my baby girl
and our foster baby boy came home from the hospital in.
It's not much of a stretch to say that these blankies 
aren't exactly worthy of a keepsake. 
But I think up-cycling them in this way
 is a perfect way to hold on to those precious memories. 
If you haven't made a scrap fabric wreath before I recommend this post from 


My sweet little pickle seems to love the space!


Hopefully my package WILL arrive - and SOON!
I can't wait to show this space off!!!

Momma's Lil' Model



EEEEK! Look who's modeling momma's work!!!
& with such sass too!


Annalea has certainly inspired my work. 
I've started adding flowers to my yo yo arrangements,
and boy do I love them. 


Now that I have my very own baby girl to dress up
It's tuff to let these go.
So these are all just examples.


You can contact me on my facebook fan page to 
commission your own one-of-a-kind yo yo pretty.

As always thank you for your love and support!

Grumble Bumble


I can't believe how quickly miss Annalea is growing.
One day this outfit from her Great Auntie Kym 
looked huge - and I swear it wasn't more than a
week later that it was a perfect fit!
Annalea is a fussy little thing so I lovingly
refer to her as my sweet little grumble bumble.


Springtime


I can't believe my baby girl is almost 3 months old already.
I finally finished up Miss Annalea's baby announcements. 
Next hurtle is to get them addressed and sent off... easier said than done.
I still have at least a handful of thank you cards yet to send out.


I'm so pleased with how these turned out.
I decided (as if I had the time) to make my own envelops,
as every supplier I could find would end up having me purchase 20 or so more
 than what I needed.
So I found some destashed snack bags on etsy 
and after a few folds and some cute washi tape
I had my own super cute envelopes - and for a fraction of the price!


I created my announcements using paper and letters from my new
digi kit collection entitled Springtime
available at Kitschy Digitals
The paper and lace heart frames are from my Tie a Bow digi kit, 
and Danielle Thompsons Thrift Store Chic: Picture Frames


The collection also includes some little cutsie 
animals, tags, and other such fun.


As well as a great lil' freebie!
Especially for my fellow Project life gals.


I know spring is long past gone,
but I hope this collection will tickle your fancies.
Being as sick as I was, it wasn't an easy process
but my vision finally came together
and I hope you will enjoy these sweet digi kits
as much as I do.