Thanksgiving 2009 - The Recap!

Thanksgiving morning, the kids and I stopped in to see my dad's mother. We lost my grandfather around this time last year so I know that she is particularly lonely around the holidays.

After visiting for awhile, we headed over to my grandparents farm (my mom's parents). Unforunately my grandmom on my mom's side recently was admitted to our local nursing home so this was a hard holiday for us, especially as her health continues to decline.

Here are my cute nephews roaming the farm.

My brother teasing Ally like Uncles have to do while my mom watches.

Me and my little miracle, Ally, hanging out after dinner.

Ally is named after my grandmother as a matter of fact. (-:

After dinner, we all went up and visited my grandmom in the nursing home.

Unforunately it seems her health continues to decline.

(Picture taken Christmas 2008)

Please say a little prayer for her in hopes that things will improve.

One thing that I am definitely thankful for in my life is that my children know my grandparents as if they were their own grandparents. They have seen them on a regular basis and that makes me very thankful to know that my grandparents have influenced them each in their own ways.

I hope everybody had a GREAT Thanksgiving...

there is certainly a lot to be thankful for! (-;

The $1 dress...

We're broke. My dear hubby has been on disability since August, with the exception of two weeks in September. My daughter needed a dress for our Thanksgiving dinner, and we're broke. Did I mention that already? (-;

Anyways, Dollar Tree and Make It and Love It to the rescue.

When I saw the dress that Ashley from Make It and Love It made from a sweater for her adorable daughter, I was impressed.

Coincidentally I went to Dollar Tree around the same time as seeing that post, and what did I see?

Why an ivory sweater for a DOLLAR!!! SCORE!

I have to admit that I was pretty nervous about cutting into a sweater, even a dollar sweater. I guess I had it in my head that the whole thing would unravel after I cut it, and that I would never be able to do the sleeves. But since it wasn't even in my size, I bit the bullet and just did it!

And I am so happy that I did because it wasn't hard AT ALL!!!!

Even making and reattaching the sleeves wasn't too bad! Probably the worst part for me was embellishing it and finding the stockings.

As a bonus, I was even able to use a piece of the discarded sweater for a headband!

I made the roses on the dress from a shirt that no longer fit me. I was short on time so I ruffled up some of the material and used pins to pin each one to the sweater. I thought that the color might bleed onto the sweater so this way I can remove them prior to washing.

I may eventually switch up to a more subdued color rose and attach it permentaently, but for now I can take them off or change them out pretty simply.

The stockings cost 4 times the amount of the dress! Talk about splurging. (-;

Unforunately I couldn't find a stripe stocking in her size, and basically the flower ones were all that was left that would fit her. I figured since it had roses on the dress that it all kinda went together. Definitely not my first choice, but they suffice.

I did have to cut the neck of the dress down because of a small hole in the sweater that I didn't notice till I got it home. I was quite nervous that I would really mess that up, but all went well.

And when you only spend a dollar on a dress, you don't care if your daughter runs around the farm in it and gets it dirty....

or if her older brother rough houses with her...although it would be nice if she could wear the stockings again!

So if you are looking for a sewing project, definitely check out Ashley's blog because her tutorial is great...

I wouldn't have been able to take the refashion plunge without it!

Friday Fill In's

1. The last band I saw live was my kids rocking rock band in my living room.
2. What I look forward to most on Thanksgiving is having my grandmom home with us for the day from the nursing home, I am really hoping that happens. (-:
3. My Christmas/holiday shopping is well underway, thanks to some great deals found on several of my favorite blogs!
4. Thoughts of fundraising for Collin's Robotics team fill my head.
5. I wish I could wear my pajamas all weekend long....soon enough soccer season will be over and maybe that can happen.
6. Bagpipes and men in skirts.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to hopefully sewing, tomorrow my plans include Collin's Ramp Riot Robotics Competition and Sunday, I want to catch Michael's soccer game and if that gets cancelled head to a college fair with Collin! Busy weekend, and I am tired already! But its a good thing! Hoping for big wins on both days!

The Crayon Roll - An Easy Gift Idea!

Thanks to the incredible amount of inspiring blogs out there, I have been able to get some frugal ideas for Christmas like this crayon roll. The inspiration for this project came from the tutorial at The Idea Room....another blog that has monopolized all my time with so many awesome ideas!

I just finished my first Crayon Roll and I was very happy with the way it turned out.

I think this is a great gift for a toddler or a preschooler. It gives the kids a nice visual, organized way to keep their crayons rather than just dumping a box and I can keep it in my purse for when we are dining out or going to the doctors. I think I'll make one to take up to the nursing home with a coloring book so when we go visit my grandmom, my daughter will be occupied.

This was a quick and easy project to make and a great way to use up fabric scraps!

Alright, I must get back to work, I have a couple of blankets that I am making for two charities

that I hope to share with you by the weekend...

one has to be done by tomorow since we have a busy weekend.

Wish me luck on that! (-:

For the LOVE of Horses!

My daughter LOVES horses!

It's really amazing because she has been in love with them for as long as I remember. So as she becomes more of a preschooler and less of a toddler, I have been wanting to redo her bedroom to be less of a nursery

and more of a little girls room so we decided to incorporate horses into her decor. Luckily I was able to get some clearance "horse" wallpaper border for $1 at Lowes awhile back, but only enough to do one wall,

therefore I have been brainstorming other ways to add to the horse decor.

Since money is non existent in our household these days, this redo is of the free and cheap kind thanks to one of my FAVORITE blogs, This and That! She basically made Picture Frame boards using MDF and scrapbook paper! Check out her blog for lots of inspiration!

Angie's tutorial for this project was featured at favecrafts, another site I adore!

So here is my finished version using Angie's tutorial...

I was able to buy a small sheet of 1/2 inch MDF for around 8 dollars. I then cut 8 12"x12" boards from this MDF sheet with my jigsaw. I only needed 3 boards for my daughter's bedroom since her room is particularly small.

I found scrapbook paper on sale at AC Moore that would coordinate with my daughter's bedroom and used an old horse calendar for the pictures that I scored at a yardsale for FREE!

Gotta love a freebie!

All you need to do is modpodge the scrapbook paper to the board....I haven't modpodged since grammar school, and the odor brought back A LOT of great memories! Then I framed out the horse picture with a coordinating piece of scrapbook paper and attached with modpodge to the board.

The first board I did, I modpodged over the pic thinking it would protect it better, but after that one I didn't care for the glare on the picture since I only had glossy modpodge so I just left it unprotected. I think it is high enough that my daughter won't mess with them...but that remains to be seen!

While modpodging, I pulled out the white letters that spelled her name from her closet and updated them by modpodging them with some more of the same scrapbook paper.

I am linking this post to Kimba's blog, A Soft Place to Land as part of her Tuesday DIY Day! Check out her blog for tons of inspiration! I know I sure will! http://asoftplace.net/

Also next week I will be posting another project in Ally's room, which has been a big hit with her! Stay tuned to find out! (-:

Praying for Stellan

Many of you follow MckMama's blog as her son, Stellan fights SVT (Supraventricular Tachycardia which involves his heart). He is such an adorable little boy who has already been through so much!

They are currently in Boston at a top notch hospital where little Stellan is now recovering from surgery. While at the hospital, prior to surgery, this poor little boy flatlined, but he was brought back to life as his mother watched...I can only imagine how terrifying that was for her! His surgery seems to be generally sucessful with some unresolved glitches.

I know this family is in my thoughts and prayers as they face the challenges of a surgery for their little guy, and being away from their other children. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers as they continue to seek the best medical care for their son and continue their journey to save their son's life. What an amazing little boy!