valentine's robot of love

I'm so relieved to see that my anxiety and picky eating habits aren't the only traits of mine the girls have picked up .. they're our crafty little monkeys and it makes me smile.

I was hoping to search through Pinterest for Valentine's box ideas with the third grader; but she made it clear early on that she had her own idea and there was no changing her mind.  Clearly, she also inherited my stubborn and independent ways.

she painted the body / arms / legs  'aluminum' 

her dad cut slits into the side and she attached the cardboard 'arms'
they had the ability to move up & down as well as back and forth -

"so he can go 'beep boop beep.'" = she explains

of course .. there was a moment she tried to run from my camera ...

but she knows .. resistance is futile!!
smile, my crafty little robot! :) 

I know it's late .. but nobody ever accused me of being punctual  ..  

I hope everyone had a happy Valentine's:) 

power of positive printing

so the title leaves much to be desired .. but I think you get the point.

I love that I've printed so many of my 'words of encouragement' that I can swap them around the frames throughout the house.  These are a really nice personal touch to help bring up the mood or enhance a feeling, depending on the way the day/week is going.

if you can't tell by the prints today - this week has been a little trying on the patience.
.. but with a teenage girl; things often are.  It's hard to admit, but some days I need to remind myself of how lucky I am to only have the simple troubles of forgotten homework and a textaholic teen. :)

click here for my print size 'be grateful for this day'

click here for my print size 'break from your routine'

click here for my print size 'Enjoy the little things.'

more prints on the page :)

the wipey board of awesome ..

In our town, when the world is a frozen Hell winter comes - it gets super quiet.

so, this time of year, the stuff is pretty 'hit or miss' at the thrift stores.

luckily, this winter I've found lots of 'treasures.'

(that very word conjures a mental image of Hoarders *shudders* I promise to try not to use it again)

... moving on ...

when I picked up this serving tray, to look at it 

our 8 year old giggled as she said to us

"ooooohh he can bring you breakfast in bed, Mom!"

then ran off laughing at her announcement

LoL .. she's awesome.

I wanted to turn it into a 'dry erase drawing tray' for the aforementioned goofy girl.

But at $4 .. this is a spendy thrift for me.

I actually had to rethink it .. twice. 

lol  *shrug*

I got home and  it sat for a week got started

I removed the wood sides of the tray, then spray painted them

the best IS yet to come ..

I miss her, today
to be clear - I miss her a lot of days
but today, I miss her really a lot
I would give anything to hear her rambunctious laugh from across the house
see her sweet  smile when she found a great deal at a yard sale
feel her arms around me in one of her famous bear hugs
or to hear her opinionated unfiltered comments about everything from religion to weight gain in America

the best IS always yet to come ... we just have to remember to fight our way through it, some days.

I love and miss you, Gramma <3

click here for my free printable size version of 'pink ribbon - the best is yet to come'

of course I had to make a non-pink version ... 

click here for my free printable size version of 'the best is yet to come-flower'

vintage + sea foam green .. WIN WIN!

when I make my 2 or 3 or 4 trips each week to our favorite thrift store, I always depart with a smile on my chubby little face.  The staff is awesome, the stuff is super cheap, and it makes my necessary retail therapy inexpensive and easy.

I left today, with a ridiculous grin & the awesome deal of 2012 .. so far.

my apologies in advance for jealousy brought forth by seeing my seafoam green awesomeness.  please don't show these posts to your boring white/beige/taupe sewing machines .. they can't handle the awesome.

$15 including the case, extra bobbin AND the 1976 manual.
did I mention how awesome I think it is .. ? :)

the teen has already sewn everything in the house she could think of, that needed mending.  I love my family, because they were just as excited as me and couldn't wait to play with it!

rawr means I love you ...

I saw my nieces this weekend and I can't believe how much they've grown since we've seen them last.
The 13 and the 15 yr old have both joined the club of people who are taller than me.
I wish that club was a little more exclusive.. :P

I can't believe how emotional it made me, to watch all the girls playing together. 

5 giggles ..
5 laughs ..
5 unique personalities ..
5 amazing girls.  (a 6 yr old, an 8 yr old, one 13 yr old, and 2 fifteen year olds)

I couldn't stop smiling every time I saw them dancin' around, goofin' off, and playing games that only cousins would appreciate.
I wish they would stay this young forever .. sorta. :P

with all I have, I wish I could convince my 'city-slicker' sister to move to the country ..

maybe some day ... some day .. *insert dreamy nostalgic look, here*

my point .. I love my family and in turn I made some more lovey-dovey prints !
Happy President's day !! :) 

click here for my free printable - "rawr! means I love you"

click here for my free printable - "L<3VE"

our house .. finished.

I realized today, that I nicknamed my project wrong

The wordart I made didn't list our houses - it listed our streets

so, instead of 'our house' .. I guess technically it should be our street

but .. a catchy song doesn't exist that's titled - 'our street' ...

'our street' didn't blare through the half-blown speakers of my mom's green pinto

so ... pfft .. my mistake and the title OUR HOUSE stays ! :)

onto the (very simple) craft ..

• awesome husband goes out in the cold & paints frame
• cut/fit fabric to fit - plus cardboard; if your $1 thriftstore frame has no glass or back :P
• modpodge fabric onto cardboard
• secure backsides
• modpodge word art - not sure why I did this IN the frame .. I don't suggest.
• smooth paper onto the fabric, removing bubbles
• embellish with random decorations/buttons/scrapbooking stuff
• pace through the living room wait patiently for it to dry
• done

This poor fabric-podged frame may or may not have sat in a pile for over a month; because the original project for the fabric canvas was re-assigned to another frame.

MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE ...

he's crazy sweet .. I'm crazy

I won't be the first to say it - but I'll say it, anyway; I can be a brat.

by brat I mean stubborn, melodramatic, and spoiled

quite the package, eh ? :))

"I don't want you to buy me ANYTHING!!" were my exact words on my way out the door to work, in the morning.  I really can't explain it, other than I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. 

I don't mean to be moody and irrational .. I guess it's just part of my charm. :)

despite my biting his head off in the morning; my ever-so-sweet husband took time out of his day to come to work to bring me this .. 

how did he do that ? you might ask ..
In November - he was the loving husband he always is and he had made A TON of these tissue paper flowers for my good friend's baby shower.  now, he's a pro.
fast forward a few hours .. I got home and within a few minutes discovered something new on the wall.
omg ..
I have to admit that it made my heart flutter a little .. he crafted for me.
he CRAFTED for me .. that's so hot.
he used the matching 'plaque' I used for his Valentine's gift and turned it into something I'll cherish forever.  He used mod podge and ribbon and lace and doilies .. all to make me smile.

I am unbelievably lucky that he puts up with my crazy ...

what I learned today

• calm my anxiety
• irrational expectations get me nowhere 
• have a little faith in the people I love .. because they have all the faith in me.

prints - shutup and try .. dare to dream

we all know someone who could really use these mantras in their lives.

you choose to be where you are ..

'if you don't like where you are; change it - you are NOT a tree.'

so .. dare to dream of new things ..

then shutup and do a lil' something each day, to achieve your dreams.  

I don't mean to achieve the 'somehow acquire a huge fortune and never have to work or worry about money again' dreams ...

the not-so-out-of-reach and/or felonious ones :)

as my friend put it on facebook : 

'Happy excuse to show the one you love, you love them day!'

click here for my printable version of 'dare to dream'

click here for my printable version of 'shutup and try'

funny kisses ..

'a life without laughter is a life wasted.'

I refuse to waste this life!

on top of being sweet, charming, and crazy-good at trivia .. Gary is hilarious.

when making valentines for friends - the teen found a 'giant tag' Hershey's kiss
Gary said something that I found ridiculously funny ..
the teen said something ELSE that was crazy funny ..
I felt I should share their funny with the world
I shot a picture
and I made this.
LOL
I love my funny family!
happy Valentine's day y'all

p.s. I <3 my awesome hand-welded steel nameplate that my amazing friend, Alex made for our entire family.  They're so cool .. my family .. the nameplates .. and my friend for making them. <3 :)

love plaque ..

Every year, I hear friends  moaning and groaning about Valentine's day ..

'It isn't a real holiday'  .. 'you should do nice things all year'  ..

'it's just another stinkin' day'  .. 'blah blah I'm a Grumpy McStinkFace'

they're right .. we should be good to our one and only - all year. 

it could very well be a holiday made up by greeting card & candy companies 

but I still like using this 'stinkin' day' to do nice things for my fabulous G.

He looks past my 'snooze button' habit, calms my irrational fears and puts up with my brattiness in general.  Honestly he deserves an award for how good he is to me, everyday.    So .. he was gonna get one.

onto the craft ...

I wanted to use a 'text-heart' that I'd recently seen on Pinterest, for the 'base.'   At first, I toyed with the idea of putting one of 'our songs' inside the heart; but that seemed generic.  I wanted it to be nostalgic, personal, and cute.  So, I did something I hadn't done in a long time .. I wrote him a love letter.  : )

I printed and cut out my 'love note heart' then had to find something to 'mount' my project to.   Rummaging through my 'wood bits' produced these 70's plaques we bought almost 10 years ago.   

At first, I couldn't bear the thought of ruining them. But then, I reminded myself they hadn't seen the light of day in at least 5 years; so I felt better about the next step. 

I spray painted it, set it to dry and the hunt was on.  I had to find stuff from our life; things that represented us and our years together.

once I started searching, I had to cut myself off; I just found so many neat little items in our boxes.  I just didn't have room for it all ...

memorabilia I ended up using : 

our name tags .. a cook & a waitress; met, fell in love & built their life, together.

our first pictures together .. at some old, random Kmart photo booth 

Antiques Roadshow tickets .. we went & found out we had junk .. SO MUCH FUN ! 

UTA trax train tickets .. one of our favorite Salt Lake past times

membership from our 1st date .. yep - we went to a bar & had beers. judge us, not. :) 

a key from one of our many mailboxes

ant stickers .. I bought a BUNCH of these sticker packs forever ago.  we would plant them all over the house on things .. then, when we'd move - we'd always leave a few behind on walls lol

 plus other relevant scrapbooking embellishments 

I mod podged my paper elements onto the plaque and paced back and forth waited patiently for it to dry.  Then used hot glue and/or super glue for the '3D' materials.

I'm in love with how it turned out .. I'm in love with the 'love plaque' .. I'm in love with him all these years later

ok .. lol I have to admit that the moment I wrote 'love plaque' - I started mentally singing the B-52's love shack.
instead of love shack .. it was  love plaque.
"looovvee pllaaqquueee - thaaaat's where it's aaat. looovvee plaaaaaque.'   

TIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN ROOOOF !

It took every ounce of restraint to not title this post a lyric of the song.

.. don't mind me - I digress.

*back on topic* I adore the love plaque.
and Gary ... both in ridiculous amounts.

I wonder what other people are doing for their favorite person in the whole world .. :)

  

T minus 4 days ...

you might not know this, but it's hard for me to keep secrets.

wait - back up. 

I sound like I blab everyone's business.

I can keep important, personal secrets .. but I don't do well with happy secrets!

call me crazy, I just don't like to keep things from people that'll make them smile.    So, of course,  we rarely reach birthdays/Christmas morning without opening a handful of early presents to 'get us by.'

point of that random factoid ? 

After 3 days crafting in secret - I've still managed to keep my Valentine's day craft a secret - yay ! 

only four days to go ..

point of this blog post ? 

in between sessions of waiting for paint and mod podge to dry - I made a few prints and I wanted to share .. some lovey dovey - some .. not so much. :)

until next time ... happy 4 days til valentine's day, day ! :)

would love for you to say hi, leave a message, link back, and/or even share your own picnik creations ..

hanging in the hallway by our front door - super cute <3

click here for printable size

 it really is .. don't deny it !
click here for printable size

they do ... they never judge when you fart!

click here for printable size

 who doesn't love naps ?

printable size

(6 more prints on next page)

beyond measure ..

I find myself in the midst of a Valentine's day craft that has, thus far; been successfully kept a secret.  *yay me!*
So, of course I find myself in an extra super duper lovey dovey mood.

my point .. 

I just made these and HAD to share :)

I hope everyone finds themselves happily engaged in some sorta Valentine's day craftiness .. or some anti-cupid mischief - whatever flips your pancake!

click the picture and it'll take you to the link for the full printable version ..


I made this one to place onto the husband's night stand or hang over his side of the bed - to see it every morning.    I don't tell him enough; but I want him to know that if I had to choose - I would totally pick him again .. no question; no doubt; definitely 100%.

click here for printable size - "I'd pick you all over again."

and for this next one, I plan on 'repurposing' some old rulers into a 'square foot' frame (lol) to hang this near the girls' "how tall am I, now?" wall.

click here for printable size - 'I love you beyond measure.'

as always, I'd love you to say Hi!  Also any feedback or sharing your own picnik creations is highly encouraged. ..  until next time - Danielle -


please include a linkback to my site if you include me in some sort of 'free print round-up' -- ty :)

'technology takes over ...'

the reality of this post is that it exists because as soon as I saw the image below it spoke volumes, to me as a wife, mom and child of this technology craved society.

It's excruciating for me to admit; but a handful of years ago, I had a point in life where I couldn't get enough time on the glowing interwebs box.
video games, apps, social media, online worlds, forums about anything & everything, etc.

I ignored a few things that should've been very important to me; I let relationships fade, friends calls go unanswered and my ass got way too big; all because of a box of wires, a motherboard and graphics card.

I can happily say that's a shadow of who I am, today.

I still love my facebook and computer stuff, but in small intervals. (stares at blog, pointing out the obvious)

I prefer my addictions of a crafty, outdoor, social, and familial nature, these days. ;)

original image found on thisisnthappiness.com

winter is a four letter word ...

I reserve the word hate for a select few things.

winter is high on my list of stuff that's H bomb worthy.

it's cold .. it's gloomy .. your fingers are frozen .. your nose is runny
Ew.

winter is just plain gross

 

'waaaayyyy too cold' North Dakota was home for years.  I've seen enough blizzards, six foot snow drifts and forty below zero to last me and my kids a lifetime
Ew.

.. my point .. 

these days - we avoid winter at ALL COSTS

we're so dead serious about that - we moved to the desert.

lol .. that's us - we're hardcore. *flex*

our friends in Denver & Salt Lake have been getting inches on top of inches of snow
... our condolences ... 

the sunshine spent all morning beating against the red rocks
we went at noon ant it was still radiating warmth

In the sunshine, it peaked in the mid 60's ...in FEBRUARY !! :)

  

it was SOOOO gorgeous, I almost felt guilty .. 

pfftt .. I kid I kid.

no guilt here .. just pure sunshine appreciation.

the four legged friends agree .. sunshine <3

when we started it was a little 'brisk' and we all kept our jackets on ...

but within 20 minutes, the jackets were off

more word art ... I cant stop!

I can pretend that the April 19th closing date for free picnik is the reason for my obsession with making tons of  these printable word art things .. but I won't.

I just adore them .. hanging all over my house in their cute little frames, making people stop for a second to read it; then they smile. it's fabulous.

I can swap around with festive holiday word art, birthday word art, cheer you up on a frowny day word art .. omg I just love the endless possibilities !!

pictures that basically say 'I think the people in this house are awesome and everyone should know it.'
... it's fabulous.

so, here ya go ..
click the image & you'll go to the original file to save from there.  :)

say hi and / or leave your own creations, if you'd like to share, too !

please link back if you include my creations in some sort of '' free prints roundup'' -- thanks!

added feb 16 .. I forgot this one -

click here for full size version 'you are my sunshine.'

 

click here for full version - 'our love story is my favorite.'

click here for full version - 'welcome to our happy place.'

click here for full version - 'you are my happy.'

click here for full version - 'you are my sunshine'

click here for full version - 'happy girls are the prettiest.'