Here’s the deal:  it had been a few days since I posted, and then my Angel Baby ended up in the ER the same weekend my MIL was admitted to the hospital.  We had a pretty rough go of things for about 10 days while Bubbie fought through hand, foot, & mouth disease.  Goodness sakes.  I felt so bad for him.  Every one of his little toes had blisters all around and between them and he had ulcers in his mouth and down his throat so it hurt to eat or drink.  Needless to say, that week and a half destroyed all of the progress we had made with getting rid of bottles and binks, as well as the talk of potty training we’d been working on.  Oh well… I’m not in any hurry for him to grow up anyhow.  <3  So… we got all better and I got around to completing a project I’ve been dying to do for a LONG time… but I couldn’t blog about it because the project was a gift for my brother and I didn’t want him to see it before I gave it to him.  Well, his birthday was last Tuesday and he’s had is gift since Easter Sunday.  Again… whoops.

Sooo…. here I am.  I am finally going to catch you up on what’s been happening around here (aside from nasty childhood diseases) and walk you through my handy dandy glass etching tutorial.  Let’s do the tutorial first!

Super Duper Easy and Fun Glass Etching

Glass etching is my new favorite thing.  Okay, I have a billion favorite things.  This is just the newest one.  Here’s what I started with:

Tools:

– Silhouette HD (plus cutting mat, scissors, ruler, and various other tools)

– MacBook Pro

– Glass to etch on (pictured above is a Pyrex bowl I did, but it’s not the piece I used for the rest of the tutorial.  Sorry.  I forgot to take a picture of that one before I started.)

– Vinyl

– A bottle of Armour Etch and a crappy paint brush

The first thing I did was use my Silhouette to cut a couple shapes out of vinyl.  I think there’s stencil vinyl specifically for this.  I had a roll of white on hand so that’s what I used.  Weed the vinyl so you “trash” the shape (positive space) and keep the outline (negative space).  I use contact paper to transfer my vinyl, but again, I there’s transfer paper specifically for this purpose.  My brilliant friend Sarah uses Press & Seal Saran Wrap.  I didn’t believe her until I saw it and tried it myself.  She’s amazing.  Anyway, this is that my “sticker” looked like before I put it on the mug:

And this is the part that I hate: throwing away the “good” part.

Not gonna lie–these guys moved from my wall onto my back patio door… where they’ve lived for three weeks now.  :)

Anyway, once you get your shapes placed just right (I used the ruler here) press them down and make sure to get a good seal around the inside where you will apply the etching cream.

Once you’re happy with the placement, you’ll apply the Armour Etch.  (NOTE: This is an acid etching cream, so you’ll want to be careful to avoid contact with your skin.) I put the cream on pretty thick and waited about 5 minutes, then rinsed it off.  I wanted to make sure I got a good etch, so I dried the mug and reapplied the cream and waited another 5 minutes.  I probably didn’t need to do that, but since it was my first attempt at etching, I was worried.

And there you have it.  Done!

I was very happy with the way this turned out, and the birthday boy thought it was pretty neat, too.  Don’t ask about the dinosaur vs. bear thing.  I honestly don’t remember how that all started.  I just remember something about my brother and my husband arguing about who would win in a fight, and Hubby suggested these shapes when I was trying to think of what to etch.  I love it.

Now for the catching up…

I feel like I’ve been working working working… and yet I feel like I’ve done nothing.  I think the problem is that I don’t have much to show for progress.  I have been doing crazy amounts of yard work lately.  We live in a north facing house with mature trees, so we have a great deal of shade to deal with.  Add that to a greyhound/lab mix that runs faster than lightning and you get ruts in your grass and lots of patchy places… not to mention a desire for beautiful flowering plants and not enough sunshine to grow them.  It took me two weeks of 20 minute trips outside with Bubbie to get all the flower beds weeded.  It wasn’t until the last bed that I realized he is actually a great helper if he has his own shovel.  Such a sweet boy. <3  Anyway, I settled on hostas for the front yard and got them planted this week.  I picked up some seeds tonight for my one sunny bed and they’ll go in tomorrow.

I’ve also been doing a lot of planning.  I’ve been working on Scentsy stuff and my Etsy shop, and I find a lot of joy in that.  I can’t wait to post more projects.  Remember my Sesame Street Blankie?  Well, there will be more of those soon! And maybe even some new typography prints.

I’ll leave you with a sneak peek at my next Etsy shop item…

Peace & Love  <3  Kylee

Spring is here!

I love spring.  LOVE spring.  New life everywhere, gentle rain storms, and a sudden desire to organize EVERYTHING!  Now, for those who don’t know me, I am kind of the Queen of Organization.  Now, that doesn’t mean that my entire house is perfectly organized.  It means that I have a seamless PLAN for everything in my house to be organized.  I’m lacking some motivation.  I blame it on old age.

As I was saying… do you have a room in your house that looks like this:

Yes?  Of course you do.  We all do.  Why is that?  Why can’t I have infinite energy and an impeccably clean house?  This is insane.

^^ For those that are curious about this box on the left with the number ’500′ taped to it… my dearest of friends can tell you that I LOVE to organize so much that I sometimes go way above and beyond (missing the basics, even) and I organize in Excel.  This box is left over from our move 3 years ago.  When we packed up to move I put a label on every box.  Each label had a 3 digit number.  The first digit corresponded to the room the box was to be placed in.  The last two digits were so that I could keep track of EVERYTHING that was in EVERY BOX via Excel.  Yep, I created a spreadsheet with all those numbers, and listed all the items in all the boxes.  Was that really necessary?  No, probably not.  Did it make my move easier?  I think so.  Will I do it again?  We’ll see if I find enough energy between now and then.  Like I said, I’m getting lazy.

One thing about having kids is that you don’t have nearly as much money as you did before they blessed you life with their happy little squeals and poopy diapers.  The Rubbermaid totes at $10 a piece really start to add up, so thanks to those poopy diapers we don’t buy totes anymore.  Everything goes in an empty diaper box.  They stack nicely, hold up really well, and I love their size!  However, as you can see, we have a bit of a diaper box problem.  We also have a dead lion problem (see first picture).  But we don’t talk about the lion.  Do we Hubs?

My question for today is this:

Do any of you keep empty boxes like this?

I know, I know, why would you keep an empty box?  I don’t keep ALL empty boxes, but for high dollar or collectible items I do.  I collect Willow Tree figures, so I have a whole other box full of their boxes.  This box has the box to our Wii, our camera and our camera lenses, our camcorder, and my martini glasses.  I really don’t want to get rid of them because what if I need to store them someday and I want them to be safe?  Or maybe I’ll trade up my electronics someday… the box is nice to have then.  What do you do to store these space suckers?

While you think, I’ll leave you of a picture of Little Man and his hard day at the office:

As you can see, Momma is a slave driver.  We sell Scentsy and watch Sesame Street all day.  Tough work!  Don’t you just love the warmer I have on my desk?  That’s LaPaz (mid-size warmer) and we’re warming Pima Cotton today.  YUMMY!!

Anyway, expect for this project to take a while.  If you have organizing tips for common basement crap PLEASE leave me a comment!  I’ll share what I find as I go, too!  Deal?

Love ya! <3 Kylee

Let me catch you up:

WEDNESDAY:  Honestly, this was a bad week.  I’m sure I accomplished something on Wednesday, but it wasn’t deliberate.  I’ve been in a fog, and I’m feeling much better now, but the middle of last week was rough.  Needless to say, this always brightens my day.

THURSDAY:  I found this fun trick on Pinterest from One Good Thing by Jillee.

I had a large container of yogurt (so much cheaper when you buy the bigger size!) that Bubbie and I were struggling to finish, so I took it and made these frozen yogurt drops.  HE LOVES THEM.  So easy, too (as long as you don’t care about having perfect dots).  I poured the yogurt into a ziploc bag, cut the tip, dripped it onto a cookie sheet, popped it in the freezer, and waited a couple hours.  Then I scraped them off the pan and put them into the empty (and washed) yogurt container so they could live happily ever after in the freezer for a guilt-free after-dinner treat.  (one suggestion: next time I will use waxed paper.  I think it would make taking them off the cookie sheet easier).  Anyway, like I said, this kid LOVES THEM.

FRIDAY:  I got two new filing cabinets for my makeshift office!  WOO HOO!!!  I have been needing these SO BAD, and I was thrilled to find them for cheap.  We went to the State Surplus store (State Government agencies send their unwanted office furniture and equipment here for other agencies–and eventually the general public–to buy).  We found a two drawer file and a three drawer file (the ones with one big drawer and two small drawers–my FAVORITE!! (yes, I have a favorite type of filing cabinet)) for $20 each.  Do you know how expensive filing cabinets are when you buy them new?  Go look.  I’ll wait.  Yeah, I got a great deal!!

SATURDAY:  Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!!  <3  We made sure to catch the parade downtown–and of course, wear our green!  My accomplishment for the day was a nap and an evening bonfire with excellent friends.  Who says relaxing isn’t just as ‘productive’ as creating sometimes?

SUNDAY:  Sunday was fun.  Our very dear friends Sarah and Kevin got engaged on Sunday and we got to be a part of it.  Kevin proposed to Sarah in a local rose garden, but when he asked her to marry him, rather than presenting her with diamonds he presented her with a fake plastic ring and a clue that started a scavenger hunt that covered more than 60 miles.  We were clue #5.  He is such a sweet guy, and she is a wonderful woman.  I am so excited to be the Matron of Honor in their wedding this fall.  In addition to taking part in their special day, I also got the house picked up and we got the grocery shopping done.  I love relaxing weekends, and that’s just what we had.

TODAY:  I cleaned Bubbie’s closet.  Yikes.  At only 20 months old, he sure had a lot of stuff in there!  Among the items needing packed up and stored away for future kiddos were breast pumps (yes, two of them), a billion bottles, clothes he outgrew months ago, cloth diapers (that was short lived!) and shoes he never got to wear (my bad).  I have to be honest, though: while his closet is clean, the hallway outside his room is a different story.  Bedtime came sooner than I thought, so we’ll resume tomorrow.

Thank you for being so patient with me.  I’m trying to be good at this.  Do you have any suggestions for me?  Anything you’d like to see?  I’d love your feedback.

While the windows were open this morning I snapped this picture of my cat.  She’s huge. Sweet as can be, but huge.  That’s a dog bed she’s laying in.  She’s on a diet, I swear.

Anyway, enough about my toad of a cat.  I’d hate for her to read this and have her feelings hurt.

Hubby and I took Bubbie and the dog for a walk this evening, and they walked me home in time to catch a webinar and spend some time in my craft room while they went on to the park up the street.  I am so grateful for that.  While I was at the store this morning Bubbie and I found some Sesame Street flannel fabric that he fell in love with.  It was a few feet from the satin blanket edging, and I thought, “hey, I’m going to ask Google how to make a blanket!!”  So I did.

While I was sewing, I had my laptop sitting next to me with a tutorial on blanket edging pulled up (and rocking out to some old school Dave Matthews Band and Counting Crows), and I started thinking about how much respect I have for my mother’s generation and all the generations before her who didn’t have the same DIY and craft luxuries I have.  They didn’t have Pinterest.  They didn’t even have email.  All I have to do is come up with a tiny blip of an idea for a project, and I can Google it, search it on Pinterest, ask my Facebook friends, Tweet about it, Blog about it, or buy my materials on Amazon.com.  The simplicity of crafting today is certainly convenient, but I think we’ve lost something.  We don’t have to ask our friends and family to teach us how to do something.  We don’t have to spend hours searching for the perfect pattern or collecting supplies.  And we do almost everything on our own.  My mom has told me stories about how she and her friend Nancy would pile all the kids into the mini-van and go wander Hobby Lobby, just to think up their next project.  They would share supplies and spend hours crafting together.  And now I’ve got all the things I need to do everything alone.  I don’t think that’s how we’re supposed to craft.

Anyway… onto my blankie.  I think it turned out pretty well, considering how scared I was of the binding.  It wasn’t the easiest thing I’ve ever done, and I certainly learned a couple tricks that I’ll do differently next time, but it turned out okay…

And this guy likes it… which is all I wanted anyway.

If you ask him what Cookie Monster says, he puts his hands to his mouth and makes the cutest little growly om-nom-nom sound you’ve every heard.  I love it so much.

He’s holding it up to show Daddy.

And here he’s tucking Elmo in with him (even though it’s about 77 degrees in the house–no need for a blankie!!)

And here he’s telling us what Elmo says (which is “la la la, la la la la!!”)

It makes my heart so happy when I see how happy the little things make him.  After he got a bath and put on his jammies, he asked “ba ba ba” and climbed up on the couch with his new blankie to get ready for bed.  He’s such a sweetie.  <3

I keep starting this post, and then deleting this post, and then starting it again… I’m just going to say it:  I’m really not in the mood to blog right now.  LOL

I’m trying really hard to do this everyday (and obviously not succeeding, but doing better than before), but yet I don’t want you guys to be bored with my everyday life… it’s not always exciting and I’m too tired to do something really really fun everyday.  But I’m working on it.

Anyway, we had a super fun weekend with family, and while I didn’t take time to create (whoopsie daisy!) I did take time to relax (and even nap!) and I spent some really great time with my Scentsy sisters.  If you aren’t familiar with Scentsy, please take a minute to stop by my website and check it out.  Scentsy has given me such a wonderful opportunity to stay at home with this super sweet little face and still earn some cash!

I really don’t have much to tell you today, but I’m thinking up my next big project and I hope to have something fun to share tomorrow.  Until then… nighty night!

XOXOX

In the meantime, here are some pictures that will make you say awww:

Mom made an early corned beef and cabbage (YUMMY!!) for our Friday night family dinner.  I love Friday nights.  We missed Uncle Keith  But here’s a picture of Bubbie with his Great-Papa:

And his Aunt Cayla:

And his Grandpa (when he says it, it sounds like ‘Bear-paw’… I really hope that sticks!):

Here’s Bear-paw doing surgery.  So sweet.

Bubbie with Great Mema:

And with his La La (Grandma):

These two are buddies <3

Awww:

Well, that’s my last couple days in pictures… I’m so sleepy lately.  Maybe I’ll find some extra energy soon…

Love to all <3 Kylee

So, as most of you know, yesterday was Oreo’s 100th birthday.  What a great thing to celebrate!  And what a wonderful day to teach your kid about the beauty of Oreos!!  I love Oreos almost as much as I love him.  So this was fun for me.  We even talked about how you dip them.  (He’s kind of a dip expert, between ketchup and salsa… we’ll just add cookies in milk to his repertoire.  I’m so proud.)   Anyway… the pictures speak for themselves.  Gosh, I love this face so much.

My very dear friend happens to share a birthday with Oreo, so I offered to make him a birthday taco dinner tonight (since he was busy on his actual birthday… eating Oreos I hope…).  Anyway, I made him a cake, and in the process taught Peyton about the wonder of licking the beaters.  (No worries… he’s licking frosting, not cake batter.)  Now, I promise I feed my kid good stuff too… it’s just not as cute to watch him eat oatmeal or grapes…

I’ll spare you the details of my busy day of cooking and cleaning and laundry, but rest assured I had some Mommy time today and I’m starting to feel better.  :)

I love you all <3 Kylee

This boy sure loves to help his Momma sell her Scentsy  And he really loves his Ollie the Elephant <3  (He also loves to be naked.)

So, today was what I like to call a “Super-Mom” day.  You know, the ones where you’re doing something different every second of the entire day, and then at the end of it you look back and think, “Holy cow, I’m tired!  What did I do today, anyway?”  Yeah. One of those.

My life is a bit of a perpetual, silly rendition of “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.”  This morning I emptied the Toys R Us bag of our latest purchase: MORE baby proofing gear.  Outlet plugs and drawer latches aren’t enough for this house.  We needed an industrial strength oven lock, and a refrigerator lock while we were at it.  I thought to myself “I’ll just install these myself… I’m not waiting on Hubby.  I can do this!”  On to reading the instructions: clean and dry all surfaces before installation.  Okie dokie.  I needed to clean the oven door.  Well, the oven door is on a very dirty oven.  Let’s clean it while we’re at it.  (I had forgotten how awful this chore was.  And how pretty my oven was.)  I found some oven cleaner and rubber gloves and got to work.  ICK!  I wish I had before pictures.

So, as I was saying… I went from wanting to install an oven lock to crawled up in the oven scrubbing it until my fingers bled.  The oven was clean, but now the drawer below was looking dingy.  So I cleaned it.  And all the pots and pans inside of it.  And the sink.  And then the fridge.  And then the stove.  And then the counters.  And then I finally installed the locks.  And then I needed to test how well they worked, so I baked some cookies.  All I’ve got is some after pictures of a really clean oven and some really yummy cookies.

After way more cleaning than I intended to do, I rushed off to lunch with a buddy and had a great talk over some of the best Phad Thai on the planet.  (Okay, it’s only one of two different Phad Thai’s I’ve ever had, but it’s freaking delicious.)  After lunch and a nap for the Bubbie, I rushed off to pick up my friend’s kids from school and we had a brief play date.  Having some friends over gave us a chance to whip out the new Homemade Play-Doh (which the kids cleverly started calling “Kylee’s Play-Squish”).  I wish I could tell you that this is how my little Angel Baby really felt about the sticky blob:

But this was the more common response to it:

He really wasn’t all that interested.  Some day.  For now, it’s Mommy’s turn to play with it.  While I watched him playing, I realized he was way overdue for a haircut.  (Okay, I ‘realized’ it a couple weeks ago…. I finally did something about it tonight.)  So, here’s our before picture:

Such a ham!!  This is the face he gives you when you say “cheese!!” and sometimes he even says “teeeezzzzz!!!” when he gives the silly face.  I love it!  Anyway, I gave him a quick trim (which in wiggle time equates to more like 30 minutes–or what seems like a million times through this video.)  Either way, we got it done and he took a bath and got super excited for a cookie.  This is is ‘after cheese’:

Yummm….

We wrapped up our evening with a super cute Skype with Uncle Keith.  Awww… my little E-trade baby!

So, I’m sure you’re asking “so what did you CREATE today?!?!”  I thought about calling my clean-a-thon my project for the day, but I knew you’d be disappointed.

I promise to show you pictures tomorrow.  I did complete the project today, but I have one final touch to add before I can photograph it.  Here’s your hint, in case you just can’t wait until tomorrow: I started this project about 6 months ago.  :)  See you tomorrow!!

Love to all <3 Kylee

Saturday was full of family time.  We had breakfast with our very dear friends, and then went bowling to celebrate one of the kiddo’s birthdays.  My bubbie hadn’t ever been bowling before, but since his daddy bowls every week he has always been fascinated by it. Needless to say, he was so excited to have his very own time to shine.  The alley we went to has these big plastic dinosaurs that look kind of like slides for the little ones to bowl with… HE LOVED IT!!!  We had a wonderful time, and Bubbie didn’t even make it home from the party before he was passed out cold in the back seat.

A long nap let me accomplish my project for the day:  the garage.  The hubby and I spent a couple hours straightening up the garage to make way for more creations to take place.  I’m super excited to have that taken care of… it’s been on the list forever.

The remainder of our weekend has been super low-key… and amazing!  I love lazy Sundays.  My project for today helped me ‘level-up’ in mommy-hood… I made Homemade Play-Doh.  I used this recipe I found on Pinterest.  It’s amazing to me how smelling something again for the first time in almost 20 years brings back so many memories.  Stirring that pot made me feel like I was standing in my mother’s shoes in our old kitchen.  <3  Unfortunately, I didn’t around to making said Play-Doh until after Bubbie went to bed, so I’ll have to post some pictures of his happy surprise tomorrow.

How was your weekend?

Love to all <3 Kylee