Landee Style V-Day

Full disclosure:  After years of not liking Valentine's Day, I've come to decide it's one of my favorites.  It's the perfect sized holiday for me... enough to make the kids feel special with out going completely over the top (budget-wise and time-wise).    Oh, I've also decided to make it a "family holiday" versus a "couple holiday."   That helped flip the switch for me as well.  We have our anniversary for that.  Oh, and every day of our extremely romantic marriage.  ::snort::  

Anyway, so I decided to do a little decorating for this sweet holiday for the first time ever.  But I was determined to spend $0.00.  So I made this garland out of strips of card stock I already had and fishing line.  Beebs was super impressed.  

And I hung some from the light fixture in the kitchen.  

I saw these adorable little treats on several blogs and decided to try them out.  Strawberry marshmallows dipped in chocolate?  Yes.  I made them for my new little Sunday School class and, needless to say, they adore me now.  They took me about 10 minutes to make an entire bag's worth and Beebee helped with the sprinkles.  And all were happy.  Amen.  

I will probably be making them again soon with Easter-type sprinkles due to their extreme versatility. 

This morning I had a little gift out for each kid for when they came down for breakfast (no time for a Valentine themed breakfast but I put some extra love in their cereal).  They each got a book and another small thing.  They were thrilled.  

{Gty & I then had a little lunch date, in case you were worried.}

Then tonight we made heart-shaped homemade pizzas with heart-shaped pepperoni!  And I've also decided that no matter how you do it, pizza looks disgusting on film.  But believe me,  it was delish. 

We then proceeded into the FHE portion of the evening where in Gty gave a little lesson on "Love One Another" and we decorated some heart sugar cookies I made earlier.  

Someone (Tbone) was having a bit of a tude and did not want to participate.   We begged him to please come to the table and just decorate one cookie.  This was his cookie.

"Can I go now"

Gty quickly crafted a response cookie.

Tbone then countered with this. 

 ::shudder::

JBird decided to smile for me like this.

 And then Beebs made this too-cute-with-those-eyelashes cookie and posed like this.

And thus ended the Valentine Cookie War 2011.

Valentines COMPLETE!

I was happy I thought of this (the head thing) because, truth be told, JBird kind of scowled at the idea of holding a sucker in his valentine this year.  Apparently he's getting too big for such things??   But I think this morbid take on an old favorite is doable.  Even for a big 5th grader like himself.

Maybe next year we'll get even more gruesome and have the sucker killing them dead.   Or have it say "LOVE HURTS" or something?  I'm open to suggestions.

For now I adore them immensely & intensely.

Also, PS and an FYI, using an exacto knife to slice the openings is better than using a small hole punch.  It lays a bit flatter that way.  

Use Your Imagination Valentine

I know you all remember last year's Valentines.  I stole the idea from the internet machine.  I'm stealing it again but this time from myself....cuz I did it last year and stuff.   I am shakin' it up a bit with the boys too.  Photos taken about 2 hours ago.  This is practically a live blog post!

First, the little sweetiekinz.  Who wouldn't want this in their doily covered tissue box? {This is where your imagination comes into play.... imagine the sucker in her hand.}

And for the boys I thought I'd stick the sucker through their HEAD!  

::high fiving myself::  

{again, imagine it...perhaps at a bit of an angle?}

I'll upload a pic of them finished later.  Just in case your widdle heads can't take all this imagining.  

I loves me some Photoshop Valentines.

My Fave Craft-y Blogs

Someone asked for these, didn't they?   

Well, even if they didn't, here they are.  

Let me just say that since I've started perusing these blogs my confidence in a few things has grown....confidence in things such as: doing a class party for my kids, making throw pillows, decorating for even the smallest and lamest of holidays (I actually WANT to make something for Valentine's Day...VALENTINE'S DAY!), making little things for my Visiting Teachees each month.... you get my drift?  It's changed me.  In a good way.  While I'm not that CREATIVE, I can certainly copy stuff.  Like, really well.  

Warning: They are highly addictive.  End of warning.

http://www.tipjunkie.com/   

This is a good one to look at because she pulls together all kinds of ideas/projects/recipes from all over the web in one spot.  It's a good jumping off point for craft blogs.

http://brownpaper--packages.blogspot.com/   

She doesn't post a ton but I've really liked all the things she has done and her all around style. 

http://www.centsationalgirl.com/  

More of a home decor blog but i like her style and she does some crafting from time to time.  All while being budget conscious.  

http://www.crapivemade.com/   

The name of this blog makes me laugh.  And she's funny and is quick to say if something she is making turns out to be lame or ugly.  It's hilarious.

http://eighteen25.blogspot.com/   

One of my absolute favorites!!  LOVE these sisters' style.  And they always have such fun printables.

http://houseofsmiths.blogspot.com/   

Her writing style is almost unbearable (an lol every 2 seconds) but I love her style.  I'm thinking about doing the treatment she did in her pantry {here} to the backsplash in my kitchen.  It might tide me over until I can do some fancy tiling there.  

http://lesscakemorefrosting.blogspot.com/

Love her style (houndstooth anyone?) and she's funny.  

http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com/  

Classy & cute projects and I love here simplistic style.  

http://iheartnaptime.blogspot.com/ 

I've found some cute stuff on here too.  

http://littlebirdiesecrets.blogspot.com/  

This is Kim's go-to "joke" for craft blogs..."What, did you see that on Little Birdie Secrets?"  so yeah, gotta check that one out.

http://tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com/   

Similar to tipjunkie in that she pulls together some fun projects from all over the web.  She does some of her own as well.  

Do you have any favorite ones that I missed?  Please share.  But also know that by sharing, you are enabling my addiction.  And you'll have to just live with that.

::breathing sigh of relief::

Every year I forget the "January Craziness."  

I always think that once I get through Christmas then I'll have a little time to relax and snuggle in for the winter.  I'm an idiot.

How do I always forget that I birthed three babies in January?  

But now, on this, the First day of February, I am actually seeing that relaxation and said snuggling in my future.  But it takes on the form of cleaning out and organizing closets, cupboards and doing some redecorating.  Still, relaxing takes on many forms.

But let's get to it.... we had some birthdays this month.

January 13th

::said in quiet, golf commentator voice::  I've chosen a black & white depiction to represent the moodiness/teenageris of the gifts JBird asked for and received for his 11th birthday.

::normal voice now::  He got a guitar and lessons with a cute kid in our ward (SolidGold's son, remember her? Oh, and former ward  ::humph::) and a phone as his main gifts.  Now if only some of his friends would get phones so he would have someone to text besides us.

January 25th

TBone asked for every form of Plants vs. Zombies he could think of.  I was able to find him a PC version and a DS version.  It has kept him busy.  He also got some Heelies but took a bad spill and has sworn them off forever.  ("I broke my back!  I broke my back!" he was screaming as he walked over to us.  Traumatic.  But no broken back, obviously).

And here he is sharing his day with his little sister.  Something I always feel bad about although I know I had zero control over it.

At least they each get their own cakes.

So this year we did a combined birthday party.  And when I say combined, I mean COMBINED.  With TBone...JBird.... and Standsmom's boys, Link & George.  All born within days of each other.  It was brilliant, if I do say so myself.  We could invite 25 kids for the set price.  What kid, may I ask, has 25 friends?  I can see if maybe you had a ton of cousins around or something, but we don't.  So each kid invited 6 friends and it worked out perfectly. 

Not so perfect, however, was the lighting since it was a "glow party."  So I got some pictures that are, um, artistic.

This brings us to this last Saturday when we had Beebs' party here at the house.

It was the first party Miss B has ever had.  And, combining that fact with my current obsession with craft blogs, you get a veritable pink explosion.

Here is my party committee.  Syd, Stands, and Taybay.  The girls helped with setting up, the party activities and clean up.  And Stands did the mini-cake and cupakes. Eeeeek!  <---I made that exact noise when she walked in with them.  And of course you remember me discussing these adorable cake plates {here}. 

Tutorial on these napkin flowers {here}.  These really were fun & easy to make.

For that cute circle garland I just punched out adorable paper with my 3" paper punch, put the circles back to back (so it wouldn't matter if the circles flipped over) and sewed them together. See? I knew buying my sewing machine wasn't a total waste of money. 

Tutorial for these crepe paper rosettes {here.}  This.  Took.  FOR.  EVER.   And I made the bunting with paper, letter stickers and bias tape.  More sewing, you gize! 

We made bracelets.  We decorated cookies.  We painted nails. We girlied it up.

Beebs got the diva treatment....Tay doing her toes while Syd does her fingers.  Girl heaven.  

(I just like Tay being creepy in the background here.  And Sarah looks cute too, of course)

January was fun.  But I'm glad we are done now.  I have 11 months to recoop. 

Decorating Advice Wanted*

I am having an intense urge these days to spruce up the house.  Like, it’s over-whelming.  After 5 years in a house I NEED SOME CHANGE.  I’m not used to this stagnant lifestyle. 

Anyway, so a major project I want to do is take the stairs and make them a bit more exciting.

(crappy night time iPhone pics coming at you due to laziness--there is no pattern/weird sponge painting on that wall, FYI, that is just the reflection from the light)

I want to paint that little section of the wall there that curves.  Stencil it too.  And possibly continue it down to that little alcove below.  I neeeeed some pizzazz lest I die of boredom.   I will also eventually be ripping off the lame carpet, painting the stairs, painting the railing.  But that's all in good time.  For now let's just focus on the wall.

Here is where you come in.  I need some advice.  Which direction do I go here?

A bit of a traditional damask but in a fresh color such as this (but on the wall, not the ceiling, doyee)?

Or a bit funkier pattern?

Just as a reminder, here is the room right to the right of the stairs.  It's a little more formal but hopefully not stuffy.  I have plans for in there as well, but it will continue in the direction of formalish-not-stuffy-ish.  I would totally paint that wall too but the 2-story ceiling in there is a pain in my buttocks.  But enough about that.

Even if you've never commented here I really need your input.  I'm paralyzed with indecision.

In the meantime, next week I'm going to do this to my lame builders grade half bath mirror.  Eeeeek!  I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself.  Looks easy enough.  ::famous last words::

But seriously, here is the TUTORIAL I found.  Who can't cut molding in a miter box and use liquid nails?  ::more famous last words::

I'll keep you posted. 

I also have some birthday posts to do and blah, blah, blah...  I know you can't wait.

*Landee may or may not adhere to what is voted upon depending on her mood at the time the final decision is made.  Thank you for understanding.  Your vote is very important to her tho.

Oh, Hello There

First of all, hi.  How are you?  Good.  Good.

Secondly, is it too late to make some New Year's Resolutions?  I mean, I've had them since January 1, but is it too late to post them?  Since I can't hear you I am going to assume you said no and move forward with this post.

Landee's New Year's Resolutions

(these are not binding in anyway, shape or form and must never be mentioned again by anyone if they see me failing miserably at any of them)

1) Be better about keeping up relationships with friends and family members.

• These days it is NOT HARD to write someone a quick email, write on their FB wall or give them a quick call, send a text or leave a comment on their blog.  Anything to let them know I haven't forgotten about them.  This will be particularly important this year as I am 99.9% sure some ward boundaries are being re-arranged and we will be one of the few families moving over to a new ward.  I'm trying to look at it in a positive manner ("We will double our friends!"  "We get to go to the new/beautiful church building!") but in the mean time I've been fighting back the tears and being unsuccessful.   This brings me to #2.

2) Look at things in a more positive way as much as possible.

• I recently came across THIS article on housekeeping.  And I must say, aside from the weird naming of the house thing, I agree with it 100%.  It is all in how you look at things.  The paradigm shift.  The attitude adjustment.  The gratitude for the things that mess up your house in the first place.  All good things I will be working on.

3) Be more environmentally aware and try to reduce my carbon footprint (even just a little).

• I'm in love with my little reusable bags I bought at the grocery store.  I love carrying in the empty ones and coming out with them filled.  And don't even get me started on how adorable they look all lined up in the back of the minivan.   They hold a TON of stuff (normally this same trip to the grocery store would have used at LEAST 20 plastic sacks).  Their long handles make it so I can sling a few up over my shoulder to carry in the house rather than lining them all up on my forearm and causing me extreme pain.  
• We started recycling our soda cans almost a year ago.  Wow.  We drink a lot of pop.  K, it's mostly me.  But I at least don't have to feel guilty about tossing all my DDP cans into the landfill anymore.
• Do you think I could get Sonic to fill up an empty Sonic cup that I bring back?  I mean, I'll pay full price (half price at Happy Hour though) but I want them to reuse my cups.  Those styrofoam cups are HUGE and I throw them away all the time.  Dang.  Guilty feelings returning.  Maybe I'll get a Prius to offset that.

4) Do more of this kind of stuff with the kids.

• Over the holidays we had an elf come and visit us everyday for the last 12 days leading up to Christmas.  His name was Clarence and he left us little presents or activities to do every day to make the count down to Christmas go by faster.   One of the things he brought was this 1000 piece puzzle.  I had forgotten how much I love having a puzzle out to work on a little here and there.  At any given time you could look over at the dining room table and see anywhere from 1-4 people sitting there working on it.  I should have one going at all times.  Why not I say.  Why. The heck.  Not.

5)  Get Crafty On Your Hineys!!!  Or at least on my own hiney.

• No, I'm not going to turn this into a craft blog or anything like that.  But I am currently OBSESSED with craft blogs.  I don't know what my deal is but I've added about 100 of them to my Google Reader and I LOVE reading them.  It reminds me of the couple years after I had completely stopped scrapbooking but would still read my scrapbook magazines cover to cover the second they arrived in the mail.  I'm not going to make hardly any of the projects but I love perusing them for some reason.  
• I did, however, have a couple of my adorable YW come over and we made these "anthropologie inspired" necklaces.  I ganked this picture off of their FBs.  I think their little sister took it with one of their cell phones?  Anyway, it was such a fun afternoon and we've decided we will try to do something "crafty" once a month (plzthanks see #1 and try not to remind me that I will no longer be in the same ward as these two cuties in about 72 hours). 

6) Not a resolution but check out my awesome milage I had for exactly 1 mile yesterday.   It felt magical.

7)  Somehow figure out how to spruce up the house.  We've been here for almost 5 years and some things need to change.

• I need new carpet for the family room.  This is my minimum requirement for 2011.
• I want to lower the bar betwixt the kitchen and the family room.  It is so high I would have to special order bar stools.  It is so high it causes a strange division between the two rooms that I don't like.  It's so high it's literally good for nothing.  I want it normal bar height ASAP.
• I'm wanting to do some painting.  If I do you can expect before & after shots.  Don't worry, my pretties.

8) Double our temple attendance from 2010.  I won't tell you how many visits this will require but believe me, it's veeerrrrrry doable.  We suck.

9) Find a homeless guy with an amazing radio voice, take a video of him speaking, post it on YouTube and get him an announcing job with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Wait, wha?  K, nevermind that last one.  Apparently the Cavs already have an announcer.