Inspired

A friend of mine posted this link a while back and I have been hooked ever since. She set up a budget of a dollar a day for a year, and finds vintage or thrift clothes to alter for a new outfit a day. How fun is this, I am so impressed by some of the things she comes up with... of course being cute and skinny helps tons. Well I think I am going to try for remaking an old dress new once a month... plus it might help motivate me to lose a little weight. I have some great plans in store... not sure when I am going to find time to do it, but it will be fun to at least try!

Here is the link, I am sure you will become a fan too!

LAUNDRY

If you are a reader of my other blog you know I am going back to my original laundry solution that worked. I tried for a while letting my teenagers do it, so they would learn how, but they have failed miserably... a full day of laundry and still not caught up has proved this.

So how did I once stay so organized you ask? I had a basket for each room, not a hamper that hid the laundry, a basket that matched cute in there. A pink one for the girls, a blue one for the boys, a white one for us, and a cream one in the bathroom. Each night I would tell the kids to collect the baskets for me, and I would sort the clothes out by colors into the baskets. Reds in the girls, Darks in the boys, Whites in ours, and lighter colors in the bathroom one. They then went to bed, I began running the loads that night and through the morning (they were fairly small since it was one days worth divided by 4)in the morning before they left for school they had to get their own basket of laundry, which I sorted back into their own baskets, and put them away before they left for school. Giving them the empty basket to fill with dirty clothes throughout the day again.

I think I can still have my teens help since they stay up later now, and get up early for school, I will just leave the basket in the room for when they get home. I had a friend do laundry similar, but only once a week, I found this left too much to do in one day, plus with my jobs I rarely have a full day off.

Better than Sex Cakes...

I didn't name them, I just made them! And these are soooo yummy! There is a vanilla version and a chocolate one. We had a family picnic and I made a couple cakes for it. These turned out better than I remembered! (They tasted better than they looked, so i didn't capture them in pictures, just calories)

Chocolate Better than ANYTHING cake

Chocolate cake mix
caramel butterscotch topping
whipped cream (cool whip)
toffee bits
chocolate chips mini

Mix the cake following the instructions on package in a 9x13 pan. Immediately after taking it out of the oven poke holes all over it with the back of a wooden spoon. pour the caramel topping over the cake while still hot, smoothing it into the holes with a spatula. Let it cool completely. Spread whip cream over cake and sprinkle with mini chocolate chips and toffee bits.


Vanilla better than ANYTHING cake


Vanilla or white or yellow cake mix
1 can coco lopez coconut milk (found in the alcoholic mixers section of the store, it is NON alcoholic)
whipped cream (cool whip)
toasted coconut

Mix and bake cake according to instructions. Immediately after removing from oven poke all over with holes the back of a wooden spoon works best. Spread the coconut milk all over the cake pushing into holes with a spatula. cool completely, and spread whipped cream over it. Sprinkle with toasted coconut for topping.

Enjoy! (Will add a picture when I make these again)

Curtains and Picture

So My daughter finally got back and I could take a picture of my pretty dining room... see post below. But here are the AWESOME valance I made for it and this cool picture holder. I had extra material from the valance I made a table runner and this neat picture frame, I framed the material in an old frame I sprayed Black, then I tacked on some pictures of my cute kiddos from various Nutcracker shows.



I like how they turned out!

Dining room

I am so frustrated at the moment, and have decided what my daughter is getting for Christmas... or maybe I will get it and give the old one... I let her take my camera to camp and I really want it right now. I have redecorated our dining room and I am so excited about it I wish I could show you all.



I even made a couple of great art pieces to add to it, but you will all have to wait until Friday to see it when she returns with my camera.

I made a great valance and put up curtains. I painted a wall RED and made a table runner and. Now I am on to more projects... I will keep you posted.

My Style?

Several blogs I have read recently have been discussing their scrap booking "style" and that got me to consider mine. What is my style? I like to keep up to date on new trends, and fun accessories, but I try not to let it be at the expense of the photos. At least that was what I thought of my style up until Friday night.

Friday night I had such a fun time. I stayed up ALL night scrapbooking. My dear friend Amber got quite a bit done and then comment how simple her layouts are compared to mine, which where much more elaborate. That is when I learned something about my style.

I began looking through my finished books, one with pictures and one without. I get much more complicated when I design without a picture, and simple when I design without. So I began to ask myself why that might be? I think if I don't have a specific focus, the picture, I continue to add to and embellish what I am working on, trying to fill in that void. This has resulted in my new Scrapbook goal: use the pages I have and fill in with a picture, and try to base my layout on a focus, the picture. After all isn't that the point of Scrapbooking?

That being said, here is the layout I created that night for a scrapbook challenge at Bo Bunny... without pictures. I based my 2 page layout on this sketch...



I loved this sketch, but at first it seemed a little busy and it intimidated me... but then I realized i don't need to copy it exactly. and then one page didn't seem enough. I used the sophie line and a few random embellishments I had picked up and left over from other projects. I have not yet added the pictures (nor do I know which pictures I will be adding) but when I do I will repost this. SO this is for the Layout challenge on Bo Bunny located HERE... check it out!



I really like how this layout turned out, and I think it is a good example of my "style" so I would like to know what your scrapbook style is? (that's you my two followers)

Speaking of following... I like followers, it makes me feel important. I have two scrapbook kit layouts I have made for various activities. If anyone happens upon here and wants to click the little follow button and post a comment, I will send a kit to a couple of random posters! (they are a Halloween Layout and a Winter Layout)

New Month New Giveaway!

So once again I am trying to win the All Scrapbook Steals giveaway... since I have not yet won it I am posting to hopefully win with a second chance for posting this. So go check it out and let me know if you win... I may have to come scrapbook with you.

ALL SCRAPBOOK STEALS

Also we are suppose to comment about our favorite summer past time may be... it would seem like it should be cleaning since that is what I am always talking myself into doing but I really like to go camping and hiking and swimming, I also love roadtrips, driving to visit family... although lately it seems like it hasn't worked out to do much of that.