Bursting at the Seams!!!

Alright my faithful blog readers....my apologies that these posts are so few and far between.  I still want to fill everyone in so bad on everything that these posts are literally bursting at the seams so look a little, look away, come back and look again...whatever you  need to do to make it through the post.  I would like to say that just looking at the pics really sums it up pretty good though so if you are one that just does that....carry on :-)

Halloween 2012

   We had a fantastic Halloween this year!  Although it was Brooklyn's 4th Halloween, it really felt like her first because this is the first year she was really into it.  She was determined that she would be a princess this year so we made that happen.  Because her mommy is so frugal, I decided to turn one of her birthday gifts into a princess dress and make her a fairy princess as well.  She was very entertained by all of her attire...lol!  She did a little trick-or-treating amongst the neighbors on our street and then we came back home and entertained other little trick-or-treaters all the way up until 9:00!!!  Why aren't kids in the bed at that time of night??

 

  At her school, I was charged with making a costume for her out of a paper grocery shopping bag.  So, she stayed in the royal theme at school too as the Queen of Hearts  :-)  This time of year is literally off the chain with Craft Corner opportunities :-)



Last but not least, would it surprise you to know that I am one of the class moms for Brooklyn's class at school?  No?  I didn't think so.  The other class mom and I decided that we wanted their Halloween party time to be festive and have lots of variety.  Thanks to lots of parents volunteering different goodies and a quick trip to the Dollar Tree for deco, I think we managed to accomplish it.

The highlight of my day that day though was a direct quotation from Brooklyn to her teacher at the party, "Hey Ms Yvonne!!  This is MY mommy...she's my BEST friend!!"  Love that girl to pieces!!!

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SUPER-STARDOM

   Also on Halloween, Brooklyn made Superstar status at school.  This is a chart system they use to reward the kids daily with a sticker throughout the day on their chart for good behavior.  When the chart is full, the kid makes Superstar and OHHHHH it is a big deal!  At the PTO meeting, they tried to explain to us new parents to the school just how important it was but it just didn't do it justice.  It's an all eyes on me sort of recognition complete with as many family members and friends of the newly born Superstar encouraged to come and witness.  It was just me and Kelvin this time, but we will be deep in the house when she makes Sparkling Star!!! 

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An Early Thanksgiving

  Thanksgiving came a little early with lunch with Brooklyn at her school.  It was preceeded by a rousing non-performance before lunch considering Brooklyn is in a phase where she doesn't like to sing and dance in front of people :-(  Anyhoo, I enjoyed having lunch with my girl and she managed to do ok with us  having to leave and go back to work.  I even managed to get a new hat out of the deal!

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Ito Celebrate

  A few weeks ago, a co-worker of mine celebrated her 40th birthday at work.  I decided to surprise her with a little sparkle to the day so it wouldn't be quite so bad to be at work on such a milestone b-day.  So, the night before I came in to the pharmacy and decorated the part that she works in most of the time.  I was so excited!!!  Here's how it turned out :-)



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Extreme Makeover

  I decided to take charge of the clutter in my home recently, but take it a little at a time.  So about a month ago, I re-organized our junk drawer in the kitchen.  It's been so nice to open that thing and actually see what's in there.  I would highly recommend going to The Container Store and getting a kitchen drawer organizer or possibly even just using a silverware organizer to organize your junk drawer....changed my life...lol!

I also managed to tackle the shoes in my closet and around every other part of the house.  I don't really consider myself a shoe girl but I now know that I have about 75 pairs of shoes so I guess I kind of am a little bit.  Well, maybe not because I wear the same 3 or 4 pair all the time.  Anyhoo, I purchased 5 of the "shoes under the bed" organizers for a couple of bucks each off of Amazon and voila...shoes are organized and stacked neatly in the closet for easy viewing and access!!

Last but not least, it's bittersweet to report that it's time to transition Brook's room to a big girl room.  I want to find a day bed with an extra slide out bed to store underneath it for when she has company.  That's the last item I need to find.  For now, I managed to find an old school stuff toy hammock and a toy organizer.  I don't have any pics to show until I get the entire room done but for now, I'll show one last look at her baby room and a few pics of the rough transition (with Brook helping out, of course)

 

Sniff...sniff....ok...here's some of the transitioning:

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Brook's House of Fashion--Autumn

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The Cheapest Thing I've Ever Bought at Walmart...

Just had to post this...

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Suzy Homemaker

 On this edition of Suzy Homemaker, I continue to keep my trend of wowing the women and men in our Marriage Builders class with my Pinterest-inspired recipes :-)  Both of these proved to be a big hit!  First up, was the crescent roll cheesecakes.  These were super simple to make by simply spreading out crescent roll dough on the bottom of a baking sheet, spreading a delicious cream cheese mixture on top of that, spreading another layer of crescent roll dough on top of that, then covering with melted butter and cinnamon/sugar mixture.  Then, bake and voila!!  It was so easy and so good!!  Most importantly, the hubby gave it a big thumbs up!

Next up, was the Better than Sex Pumpkin cake...oh my!!!  This was easy too.  All it involved was a box of yellow cake mix, pumpkin puree, Eagle Brand milk, cool whip, Heath bar bits, and caramel sauce.  Someone stopped the class to comment on how good it was :-)  Also, even though he's not a pumpkin fan; my hubby actually requested that I make this dish at home for us!!  Wow!!

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Natural Hair Following

  For a brief moment, I got tired of dealing with the natural hair so I took a break.  During my break time, I had a blast learning more about wigs and particularly lace front wigs.  I can remember first hearing about lace fronts several years ago when Tyra Banks had her little talk show and back then it was unheard of to pay less than $1000 for one and you could not get them here in Little Rock.  However now, they are a dime a dozen.  I follow simplyounique on YouTube for the natural hair tips, but she has another channel entitled 1simplyounique where she does videos on wigs and makeup.  I loved it!  Anyhoo, take a look at all my different tries while I gave myself a little R&R from my natural hair journey:

 

Well, that was nice.  After my break, I had to hit the ground running and get back inspired to do things with my own hair again.  First, I decided to give another go at products and regimen.  One thing that I found a common theme even amongst my friends here locally is that conditioning and deep conditioning is essential.  So, I do that weekly now and it really does help.  I also found that some of the best stuff can be just plain old conditioners on the shelf at Walmart.  I've been using the Herbal Essences line of products and it's been going great!  Here's a couple of pics of some of my faves:

Ok so let's bring on some hairstyles:

This first one was a bantu knot-out.  I really liked how soft and classic this one ended up turning out on me :-)  It lasted for several days too by just taking the hair tie out at night and applying a little oil and a satin hair bonnet to sleep in.

 

Next up, was a simple small bun pulled back with side swept twisted-out bangs.  This one was extra easy to maintain a few days as well:

I was also able to incorporate a little extra hair into a style that's become a common one for me on the weekend.  I used the puffy screw hair to make high-buns on the top of my head after I just gel my hair up into a high ponytail.  Very, very easy!

Speaking of the extra hair, I was also able to use this same puffy screw hair to enhance a low ponytail at the nape of my neck.  To spruce it up a little, I took the same section that I did side-swept bangs with and just braided and pinned it back for a more sleek look :-)



Last but not least, there is the two side twists back into a nice curly puffy ponytail.  One variation on this style is to go and twist it all up and not have the ponytail at all.

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Craft Corner Explosion!!!!

Before I start Craft Corner on this post, I want to do some quick house keeping and mention Eye Catching Decor in North Little Rock, AR.  This place is amazing!!!  Everything that I paid shipping to order from mardigrasoutlet.com was right there in house at Eye Catching Decor (i.e.- deco poly mesh, accessories, etc) and for even less of a price.  They also have all shapes and sizes of wreath forms for those that use them.  I still found that I liked my good old grapevine wreaths and pipe cleaners better (guess I'm just stuck in my ways).  They also have an online store at eyecatchingdecor.com on which they sell these items at a great price as well for those who aren't local!!  I highly recommend all my artsy-crafty deco followers to check them out in person.  You will be amazed!!

Now...on to the craft corner:

 Can we say In Over Our Heads??!!  I mentioned in my last blog post about how I started a new adventure in making wreaths to sell.  I can say the biggest thing that I learned about myself during my brief time in business is that I do NOT like to make crafts to sell!!  It was so much nicer to just do my little projects around the house and for gifts.  I do not make any money with what I charge but I really don't like to charge high prices.  This is why I will never be a business owner...lol!  The craft fairs went very well for mama.  However for me, I only sold 3 of the 7 wreaths I made ahead of time.  I ended up with 10 custom orders though that has kept me horrendously busy when I thought I would be done with this stuff!!!  Anyhoo,  I'll start the pics with shots from the craft fairs including our first sales and end it with shots of all the wreaths I've made so far.  I've still got 4 more to do to be finished with the pre-paid orders I accepted.  I'll put those on my "Hallelujah...I'm done with these freakin' wreaths" post...lol!  Enjoy (at least somebody will)!!

Craft Fair #1



 

 

 

Craft Fair #2

My Wreath Collection

 

 

 

 

 

I can't just be totally crabby in my craft corner section of the blog, so I will end it on a good note.  I finally managed to get my Thanksgiving deco up and going. I even got to do a little painting with the indoor deco as you will see.  Still a little shaky with the paint brush...lol!  With Thanksgiving being at our house this year, it was important to me that our house conveyed my new-found love for arts and crafts projects as well.  Here's the pics.  Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!