Blogging Again

The abandoned is not the forgotten.


A new year brings new things. Hop on over to Poppies & Poetry, my new blog where you can find me from now on.


xoxoxo

Chris

Abandonment

I wish I was perfect, and organized and perfect.

But I go through overwhelmed stages where cleaning the toilet makes it to the bottom of my list (ewwww gross I know)

Working and raising kids can obviously take over and leave nothing for the things I love and crave like creating, blogging and even baking.

Sorry for the prolonged absence. I'm sure I've set a record for absence apologies. They are all sincere I swear.

My hope (but not my promise) is that I can keep this up more and really give it a committed go.
Because I love to share and if anything it's theraputic.

See you soon.

xoxoxoxo

Chris

All Grown Up

I remember when I was a kid, hearing parents say "they grow so fast". I didn't quite understand until I had munchkins of my own. It's true. If I blink I feel like I might miss it all. *tear* I get all choked up thinking about them growing up.

My first born is now 5. Old enough to get things out of the fridge himself, watch movies at the theater, play a video game and go off and leave his Momma in pursuit of a higher education in kindergarten. *another tear*

We had another fun bday party this year in April. GI Joe themed. Everyone came dressed in camo and Joe gave all the kiddos battle ready face.

We played lasertag. Let me just tell you that I can't stop thinking about how much fun lasertag was even for an almost 30 year old mother of two. The hubby and I decided it would make a perfect date night!

After gaggles of fun there we headed to the airport observation deck for a fun lunch and to watch some planes land. Turned out a bit windy, but fun nonetheless.

My boy is five. I can't believe it:)

Mother's Day...are you preparing?

So, if you are anything like me..you procrastinate.

You wait until the week before, the day before or maybe even a few hours before to pull a gift together.

In the land of mommyhood it can be tough to be on top of all the holidays and celebrations especially if you prefer to give handmade most of the time (like me!).

Well, Ruffles and Stuff and Made have an awesome week planned full of tutorials and lots of goodies for Mom.

It all starts today!!!

Boy this makes my to-do list so happy!
I guarantee there is gonna be something just perfect for me to make for all the mommies and mimis in my life.

Check out all the super wonderful here and here.

Maybe I'll have time to make me alittle something for myself this year:)

♥ enjoy ♥

Exciting News!

First off I should apologize for my prolonged absence.

I've been such a busy bee trying to make some things happen and dedicating myself to some goals I've had for a while.

Well, I can check off getting my handmade goods into a local boutique! So exciting!

My items can now be found in The Cozy Cottage on Fairfield Avenue in Bellevue, KY.

It's such a sweet shop chock full of unique gifts and handmade goodies.

I plan on adding more handmade goodies to the line soon so keep those peepers out.

It's time to get back to the regular scheduled blogging program:)

Busy..Busy...Busy

I've been away longer that I would like. So much going on and I promise to share soon.

I have though been very crafty lately working on some custom requests like this cutie:

I have some fun stuff to share soon. Stay tuned!

Dollar Store Fun House

Who doesn't love themselves a good dollar store? Until recently I wasn't really aware of the awesome craft potential a dollar store could hold. Dollar Store Crafts blog opened my eyes.

Not too far back I came across this $8 foam board house by Urban Craft. Had to do it for my boys!!

So I ventured out and luckily found the foam board and picked up packing tape. I wasn't really sure how it was put together so I picked some extra materials and went to work.

A fun little house was achieved!!

I used twelve foam boards, a roll of packing tape and a bit of poster board. I took about half hour or so to assemble but provides hours of fun for the munchkins for roughly $13

Here's a peek into how I did it with some visual aides.

The foam board comes 20" in width by 30" in length for $1. Like I said for this house you will need twelve and a roll of packing tape, also a dollar. What's so great is there is barely any cutting.

The highlighted area is one panel. Each wall is made up of two panels taped together except the front wall with the window. It's one panel with a half on top cut to fit.

The top back wall is just blue posterboard cut to fit the opening. I almost left it open as a window, but my oldest wanted alittle more "privacy".

I stood the panels up taping them together and created the base for the house. Each side of the pitched roof is made up of two panels taped together as well.

Once the base was established I taped a side of the roof onto the base and then taped them together at the peak.

Am I making any sense here?

I reinforced all the taped areas inside with more tape.

Lots of tape used here people!

After the structure was up and re-inforced I used an exacto and cut out an opening for a cute window. I really just wanted an excuse to put curtains up:) I cut some cute vintage fabric up into little panels and taped them in.

I have every intention of making a little flower box for the front with some paper flowers someday. For now my boys like to take crayons and markers to it. A great activity for all these snowy days we are having here in the Cincinnati area.

This house is surprisingly really sturdy and pretty big so you have to have some room for it. For now mine is in my living room and at some point knowing my little cyclones, it will get destroyed and it'll find a resting place out by the curb for recycling.

I was thinking though that if you had lots of room such as an adequate size basement, that lots of these little houses could make up a cute pretend village complete with things like a post office, firehouse and grocery store. I'm just salivating over all the craftylicious things I could make to go into that village.

I'm gonna put that on my very large "To Do Someday" list.

♥ Hope you enjoy ♥

Better Late Than Never: Valentines Crafts

Valentines day is just around the corner.

Yay for holidays that celebrate love!

I actually did a few cute crafts for Vday with the kids. I've been meaning to post them for weeks now...but better late than never, right?

No worries there is still time to craft up some cuteness before Sunday!

Caleb and I did a fun craft with crayon shavings and wax paper. We made stained-glass hearts.

A bit messy, but adorable results and easy peasy. This is very adaptable for a multitude of holidays and celebrations.

I found the tutorial for the hearts over at Martha Stewart. We connected some and made mobiles to hang in the window.

I also made a quick wreath for the door with materials I had on-hand. I based mine off the burlap heart wreath tutorial over at Craftaholics Anonymous. I just didn't have any burlap so I used some other red fabric I had and ran a straight stitch through a strip and gathered it on the heart shaped coat hanger. I finished it by hanging it with a remnant of a polka dot scarf. It feels very Betty Boop to me. Don't you agree?

There are lots of other amazing Valentine's ideas on some of the other blogs I'm a fan of. Here are just a few:

Skip to My Lou has a great tutorial for rice krispie heart shaped pops. These would make the perfect Valentine!

How about a super cute lollipop boutonniere for your little man? I bet you could take this further and make corsages for the little ladies! Check the tute out at The Opulent Poppy. What a creative idea!

And heart garland! This is something I didn't get to this year, but so will next. I've seen this done with paper, fabric and felt. Easy, cheap and simply sweet. Oh So Crafty has a great tutorial on her inspiring blog.

Hope you have a chocolate-covered, sugary-sweet, caramel-centered Valentine's day with the one you ♥ !

Fabulous French Onion Soup

Cold wintery months mean yummy soups, stews and chilis in my house.

One of my personal favs is french onion soup. It can fetch a pretty penny in gourmet cafes and fancy restuarants. But really it is so much cheaper to make at home and so easy really.

I usually have everything on hand to conjur up a pot. Even my little guys flip for it.

Who doesn't want a mound of stringy cheese on slices of french bread atop a bowl of happy?

Fabulous French Onion Soup

4 large onions, chopped
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon white sugar
3 (10.5 ounce) cans beef broth
1 1/4 cups water
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup white wine
1 French baguette, cut into 1/2 inch slices
8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese

In a large pot over medium heat, saute the onions in the butter or margarine for 10 minutes, or until onions are tender. Stir in the flour, ground black pepper and the sugar to form a pasty mixture.
Now add the beef broth, water, parsley and thyme and simmer for 10 minutes, Then add the wine and simmer for 10 more minutes. Preheat oven to broil.

Fill individual oven safe bowls 3/4 full with the soup. Place a slice of bread on top of the soup and cover with the cheese. Place bowls in the oven.
Broil in the oven until the cheese is melted and bubbly

I personally prefer Gruyere cheese, but mozzerella is more cost effective when feeding this to your family and I usually always have a couple bags in my freezer along with some demi french baguettes.

This sweet little recipe always reminds me of my Paris travels with the hubby.

Ahhh...The City of Lights I ♥ you!

yours truly outside the Cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris in 2000.

♥ Enjoy ♥