Mr. Man...for reals!

Bubsies Boutique in a Magazine....Eh?

I am honored to have been asked

to feature one of my favorite bubsies items

in Canadian Family Magazine!

I don't know HOW they found me,

but I am so grateful for the "pub" that

bubsies boutique got in April's issue. Mr. Man Bowtie Onesie was on the Table of Contents Page...and got a pic in their
"Alice in Wonderland" photo shoot.
THANK YOU to the cute baby model,
and the wonderful Fashion Editor who chose my
teeny-tiny, incy-wincy,
handmade baby goodie!


The best part is...
that my Mom and Dad are from Canada,
and ALL my extended family lives in several places
in that beautiful country, where I learned to say...
EH?!

Word Art Tutorial (number 3)

Well....

You've seen this before.

Word Art!

I did a mini tutorial with one side of an old table in my kitchen

that was falling apart...

well, this is the other side.

The hinges were rusted, falling off,

and PERFECT to reuse in a craft!

First step...

find a font you love.

Next, trace the letters on fabric or scrapbook paper.

You will probably have to do it backwards

so the letters will turn out the right way.

I used fabric for this project.

HINT** It was actually very time consuming because I hand traced

the letters, then ironed them with an adhesive bond to make it stiffer.

Oh...I made a short project...

super long!

I hear there is a great invention called "The Cricut?"

Go buy it!

My method is basically free,

but you need about an hour when you deal with

hand-tracing on fabric.

Anyway...

next step is to Mod Podge each letter on you board or piece of wood.

Paint a layer of Mod Podge overtop of the finished product.

I used a Matte finish...

and I love it!

This will go in my lil' Man's room...

a blessing he will always be!

Tea Towel Gift

After our Swallow's day Parade,

I got inspired!

Happy Birthday, Heather!Hope you dry lots of dishes with this!

Fishing Fun

It was exactly 7 years ago that my romantic hubby

proposed....on Lake Mission Viejo!

Yes...my engagement ring was our tackle box!

We tried to explain that to Simon...

he said, "was I in Jesus' brain when you did that?"

I said, "Well..actually...Yes, you were."

What an insightful little guy!

Anyway...

we like to take him to our

FAVORITE place on earth...

no, not Disneyland...

the LAKE!Simon loves playing with the worms...
so do his adorable cousins!

In fact...
I tried having Dave take this picture,
and Braden was too engrossed in his worm stash...
while Simon was trying to grab the fishing pole away from me!



Oh...how we all love to fish.
Well, the kids actually liked the worms the best,
but we say they liked fishing.


One if Simon's favorite lines of the day...
"This is NOT fun, Mom!
We're not catching anything."
"Well I know Simon.
A REAL fisherman is patient."
That is a HARD concept for a 4 year-old.

Waiting can be hard for grow-ups too!
But...I was reminded yesterday...
The Lord is good,
to those who wait upon Him.
- Lamentations 3:25

We never caught any fish...
but they didn't mind by the end of the trip...
they still had their worms:)

Good Times

We had our first family day in long time today.

Good Times!

Started with a parade

in San Juan Capistrano for Swallow's Day...

what an event!

Of course, Simon's favorite part was the Marching Bands.
His eyes were glued to each and every drummer that walked by. Especially the Mustang Drummers...
Holy Toledo!
They were so unbelievable that they brought tears
to my eyes!
It was like watching STOMP...
with an extra kick!

Came home after the parade...
hit a few balls...

and ate a perfect summery snack...
watermelon!
It was worth putting off my list of to-do's for the day.
Fun Times...
Good Times!

St.Patti's Scavenger Hunt

We had our little friend, Archer, over for a little

St.Patti's Day activity.

I found this great scavenger hunt

on-line that lead the boys around the house

with cute, easy clues.

Archer really like to stop in between clues to

munch on some treats...

At the end of the hunt,

was a little bag of pennies and a lollipop.

Check out the site...

fun game to do with your preschooler!

(Another) Mod Podge Frame Craft

So as you know,

I had 3 frames in the IKEA pack...

I had to come up with something in

reds and blues to go in Simon's room...

(i'll post a pic once they're up).

Here's a fun craft to try if you

have about 10 minutes:)First, get your supplies (above).

I used 4 strips of fabric,

in two colors that complimented each other.

I cut them with pinking shears

about 1"x 20".

Next, I Mod Podged the frame.

Then, I began to wrap the fabric strips around the frame,
over the Mod Podge.
I smoothed the fabric as I went around the frame.

After I finished one strip,
I moved on to the second strip,
and overlapped a bit
so you couldn't see the wood.
After that,
I Mod Podged over the entire frame,
once it was wrapped on all four sides.
This created a solid, smooth,
Matte finish, that was a bit stiff and sturdy.
Depending on what type of Mod Podge,
you can have a shimmery or matte finish...
whatever floats your boat.
And Voila!
I put a SWEET picture of Simon
when he was a baby in black and white.
Stay tuned!

Love to See them Learning

We took a trip to the Discovery Science Center

with our good friends,

Emma and Chloe.

We LOVE field trips!! Dave is a High School Science teacher,

so Simon (seriously) takes after him.
"Why do we have ankles?
Why are our teeth hard?
How come we have toes...fingers?
How do kites fly?....
What is the street made out of?
Where does sand come from?
Why do we have seasons?
Why does the weather get hot...get cold?


Where does the food go after you eat it (no joke)?!
Why do we pee?
What are these for (pointing to his personal parts)?

Oh the questions Simon asks!
Half the time,
I just say..."I'm not sure about that...
wait till your daddy gets home."
And then I feel stupid because I really don't know the answer!
UUGH!
I feel like I've lost IQ points since I've become a mommy...
the more questions he asks me,
the more I realize how much I don't know!
The good thing?....
Simon IS learning...
that's the point.
He can keep asking me WHY questions all he wants.
Seeing his brain turn, think, and process
is the coolest thing I witness being a mommy.
I just have to do a little more homework
so I can actually answer him!

Fun Frame Craft Tutorial

I found the cutest frame project on

making the world cuter blog.

I followed her tutorial,

but put a little twist to make it my own.

Check her blog out when you get a chance!

To make mine,

I got a 3pck of IKEA frames ($1.67)!

I took out a poem titled,

"Simple Simon"

out of a Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes book

that is about 30 years old.

(FYI...I'm sorry, but Mother Goose is

seriously creepy! You should read some of those

nursery tales sometime...

sorry Mother Goose)!

Anyway...

I painted slightly over the poem,

but left some wording with Simon's name in there.

This is for his room,

so I thought it was cute.

I let it dry...

you'll see what I wrote later on.

Then, I painted the frame red...
and sanded it down.

Once the cream paint dried,

added some red and blue (to match his room).

Let it dry.

Then I added and changed my own

Super Hero wording for my sweet boy, Simon.

Gotta love our little men in our lives...

future Super Heros for sure!

Train 'em young!

Tweet-Tweet

One of bubsies' mascots...

Lil' Birdie

for the new baby in town!

Super Easy Mod Podge Craft (for your bathroom)

I'm addicted to Mod Podge

like everyone else who has worked with it!

It's AMAZING...

that's all I can say.

I have very plain bathroom that I need to add some serious color to.

I took my cottonball jar and spruced it up in

5 minutes!

You heard me...

5minutes!First, get your supplies.

Next, wrap the scrap fabric around your jar and

put a pin in it,

so you know where to iron.

Then iron your strip down on both sides.

Next, Mod Podge your surface and

lay fabric across it.

Press to get any creases or bumps out.

Wrap it all the way around.
Use your brish to Mod Podge the seam
at the back.
This will keep the fabric down and
stick it together.
That's it!
Can you believe how easy it is!
I love adding fabric
and spice to any room.
Color makes me happy,
so I like to put a little here...
a little there...
a little everywhere!
Stay tuned for more
COLOR!

Cork Board Make-Over

If you ever want to create a place to

put pictures, memorabilia, or notes of any kind...then buy a regular corkboard ($7 at Target)

with no frame attached.

Get some cute fabric, butoons, ribbon,

and a staple gun...

and go to work!

I hot glue-gunned the buttons on,

but other than that,

it was a regular cutting and staple project.

Have fun!!

Play Time

We got some fun hand-me-down costumes from a good friend...they are awesome!
I've realized that 4 year-olds
LOVE to pretend play...
making up all sorts of actions, dialogue,
stories, dramas, and
make-believe creations!
I love it!

And so does Simon!!

Sometimes I wish I could dress up,

play for hours, act silly,

create imaginary friends,

pretend I am a cowboy,

superhero, Scooby-Doo,

and disney's favorite mouse...

the next time I complain about having mommy-time...

I think I'm going to STOP...

get down on my hands and knees,

throw a cape on,

some cool, silly hat,

and PLAY with my sweet son!

sometimes ya gotta just put your "to-do's" aside...

and be a kid...

THEY LOVE IT...

They are making memories with their mommy...

And vice versa...

you'll be making memories with your sweet little ones...

they'll be grown before we know it!

So go do it...

get on your costume..

and get playin'!!

Pillowcase Girl Shirt

I found a fabulous tutorial on a Pillowcase Dress on

http://www.aroomsomewhere.net/2007/07/pillowcase-dress-tutorial.html

www.aroomsomewhere.net.

It's so fun to see all the thousands of

talented women out there who

are gifted beyond belief with

craftiness! Feel free to share your helpful tutorials

with me...

I'm always learning....

and I'm sure I always will be!

Embellished Girly T-Shirt

This Wal Mart little girl's T

was only $1 on Clearance!!
I just added two little butterflies
with iron-on fusible web
and...
called it a mini-bubsies creation!