Birthday Balloons

Whew! Where did the time go? It's been a busy couple weeks!

Yesterday was our niece, Ava's 5th birthday. We were bummed that we couldn't be with this special girl on her big day. Especially since we had so much fun being with her brother on his birthday on our Texas trip in February.

I decided to do something special for her gift this year.

I went to Target and got little knick knacks. I concentrated on the little treasures that she DID NOT need and would probably be discouraged by her parents from buying. After all, this is what 5 years olds like anyway, right?

I took all of the treasures out of the packaging.

Then, I opened my balloons.

I started gently placing shoving little items into the balloons.

Then I blew them up.

I also including $20 in various bills in the balloons. Big money for a five year old.

As a testament to Jeremy and his patience with my endless crafting, he didn't bat an eyelash when he walked in from work and my first words were "Oh good, you're here. Help me shove this stuff into balloons for Ava's birthday." He just jumped right in.

We shipped off the balloons in a big box with instructions to pop the balloons on her birthday.

Ava called us last night. She was excited about popping the balloons, but especially about all her "monies".

Happy Birthday little girl.

Until next time, keep crafting.

SB

Love: Freak Flag

During the month of February (and now March), I've decided to create a series of posts based on the different real life love stories that inspire me. I'll be featuring friends and family, and their different types of love.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Jeremy and I are so lucky to have our friends. They all mean so much to us and play such an important role in our lives.

We are especially lucky to have couples whose company we both really enjoy.

Lindsay and Tyler are one of our favorite couples. They live in Michigan, we live in Chicago, but due to long weekends of visiting each other, we probably spend more time with them than any other friends.

They came into town earlier this month.

Tyler and Jeremy went to the same high school. They became friends in high school and college. They are two peas in a pod. They enjoy a lot of the same things, namely, putting things on their heads that are not hats, drinking beer, playing video games, staying up way later than anyone in their mid to late twenties should, cooking, and dancing (yes dancing, and yes, there is always alcohol involved). 

Tyler and Lindsay started dating about a year before Jeremy and I. When I came on the scene, Lindsay and I soon realized that we were also two peas in a pod. We enjoy many of the same things, namely, laughing at the boys' shenanigans, drinking red wine while discussing (or watching) Harry Potter, passing out on the couch mid conversation way earlier than anyone in their mid to late twenties should, and eating the food the boys have cooked.

Since we stay with them when we are back home, and they use our apartment as their Chicago home base, we've come to realize that despite of because of our personality quirks, we get along quite well. It's pretty difficult to hide these quirks when spending days at a time with another couple, so we all unofficially decided a long time ago just to let our freak flags* fly when we are together.

for those of you unaware of the meaning of the term "freak flag": A characteristic, mannerism, or appearance of a person, either subtle or overt, which implies unique, eccentric, creative, adventurous or unconventional thinking.

Together, we all enjoy watching our mismatched dogs.

Mosby and Frank: best buds

discussing our favorite TV shows, dreaming of taking a vacation together, trying new foods,

great French restaurant, Restaurant Week 2013

and letting those freak flags fly.

From Tyler's Facebook, at another friend's wedding

In honor of our fellow freak flag waving friends, I made a Valentine's Day banner.

It's a more simple, no sew version of my Give Thanks Banner.

Again, I started with cutting a triangle out of paper. I found that if I cut the paper in half first, it's much easier to get even sides.

Then, I cut out the fabric.

I used hot glue to glue the fabric to some twine.

And here's a look at the finished product.

Next time, I hope to finish up my Love series.

Until then, keep crafting.

SB

Love: Conversations and Hearts

During the month of February, I've decided to create a series of posts based on the different real life love stories that inspire me. I'll be featuring friends and family, and their different types of love.

My whole life. I've been exceptionally lucky in finding wonderful friends. When I moved to Chicago, I found these women.

Lindsay, Lizzy,  Casey, and I

Last night, we celebrated Casey's 30th birthday. While we were all excited to dress up and celebrate with Casey's closest friends and family, the real anticipation came from knowing we would be meeting someone very special to Casey.

This summer, Casey was set up on a blind date by a co-worker and her husband. The mystery man was the husband's work friend.

Casey and Eric hit it off. They began spending time together nearly every day. When they couldn't be together, they spoke on the phone for hours each evening.

Casey spoke to us about Eric. Lizzy, Lindsay, and I couldn't believe how happy she sounded. Casey  seemed so at ease with him and he sounded so wonderful.

As the months progressed, they have continued to spend more time discussing everything from their days, to their families, to their future.

Lindsay, Lizzy, and I continued to be amazed and thrilled with how happy Casey was and how great Eric was.

Through the past six months, we have seen Casey be as happy as we had ever seen her. And all this has happened because of Casey and Eric's inspiring commitment to each other.

The commitment is even more inspiring because Eric lives right outside of Paris. As in France.

Casey and Eric met this summer when Eric was in Chicago on business for a few weeks. They dated for about two weeks while on the same continent.

Since then, they have spoken almost daily, via phone or Skype. They wake up early or stay up late to speak to one another.

Casey travelled to see Eric over New Year's and they had a wonderful time being together and exploring Paris.

Last night, we all met Eric. He was charming and sweet. He made a slideshow celebrating Casey. He made a scrapbook of the slideshow so we could all sign it, so Casey would have a memory of her birthday.

As great as Eric is, the best part of the evening was watching them interact.

Cheers to you, Casey and Eric. Enjoy this month together.

Inspired by Casey and Eric, I made a wreath with conversation hearts. (Get it?!? Conversations, ha)

Here's what I did.

Start with a 12 inch wreath, 3 bags of conversation hearts, and hot glue.

Mosby REALLY wanted those candy hearts.

Glue the hearts on in a row.

Flipping the hearts every other row helped to decrease the amount of styrofoam showing through.

Keeping going until the whole wreath is full. This will take about two hours.

Pin a ribbon to the wreath.

Hang and enjoy!

Until next time, keep crafting!

SB

Year of Fulfillment

There are certain years I will always remember. "Big years" in my life.

2003 will always be the year that opened my eyes to the world. I graduated from high school. It's the year I went to college, met Maggie, and truly realized the world didn't revolve around my friends and me.

208 will always be my year of growth. At the beginning of that year, I had just returned from living in Germany. I moved four times that year, from my parent's house (where I was storing all my stuff) back to Kalamazoo to finish my student teaching, within Kalamazoo, and finally to Chicago. In Chicago, in a matter of a week, I moved into my first and only apartment where I lived alone, started teaching, and started dating the man I would marry. It was scary, stressful, overwhelming, and exciting. Looking back, I was entirely unprepared and overly confident. 

2011 was a year of change. In January, we lost my Grandma to Alzheimer's. She was an intelligent, kind, and crafty lady. There's not a time when I use her hand me down sewing machine that I don't think of her. In April, Jeremy and I got engaged. In July, we moved in together. In August, we picked up our little guy, Mosby. In December, my sister and Tony got engaged, were about to move back to Chicago, and were quietly pregnant.

As you all may have guessed, 2012 was a big one. Jeremy and I got married. My sister had Sofia. Emily and Tony got married.

To remember that year, I made a Christmas ornament for Jeremy & I, and also one for Em & Tony.

I started with clear glass ornaments and our wedding invitations. 

Then, I cut the invitations into strips. I made sure to preserve the writing by cutting horizontally following the lines of print.

Then, starting with the most important lines of print, I rolled each line around my pinky.

And placed them inside the ornament.

Then, I placed the colored paper of the invitation into the ornament and placed the top back on.

Both Emily and Tony's and Jeremy and my invitation had ribbon. So, I used the ribbon as a way to hang the ornaments.

Here's a look at Emily and Tony's finished product.

And at Jeremy and my finished product.

I used small bulbs, because they were the only ones available. The larger bulbs would work too. I'm really pleased with the result. It was be a wonderful way to remember 2012, our very important year.

Which brings us to 2013. There's no way that 2013 can compete with the significance of 2012. I knew I wanted to make 2013 an important year, in it's own way.

I was introduced to a "New Year's Resolution" form by one of my fellow teachers. She was using it with her 4th graders, but I loved the idea.

The idea is to start with a word. One word, for the whole year.

I chose "fulfillment". I chose this because too often, I find myself "going through the motions". I go to work, come home, eat dinner, and watch TV. I find myself unhappy and dreading work. While work is an important part of my life, where I spend a lot of time, when I start to make work, and the problems there too important to me. They start to become my WHOLE life. And when things are tough at work (like this school year), I begin to feel unfulfilled.

So, here's where the rest of the resolution sheet comes in.

You have four sentences to finish, to help support your word of the year.

It looks something like this:

Word of the Year: fulfillment

What I want in 2013 is: to feel comfortable in my skin, by exercising and eating portion controlled, healthy foods.

What I need in 2013 is: to watch less TV.

What I will share in 2013 is: my blog with more people.

In 2013 I will succeed at: making a least one Etsy sale.

So, little by little, I am working towards feeling more fulfilled by using my goals.

I have been seeing some more of this:

Sorry for the blurry picture. I was trying to be sneaky, no one likes their picture taken at the gym.

And even when it's a little more effort, I've been saying 'yes' to seeing friends and family, instead of hunkering down in front of the TV.

1. Mom with besties Sofia & Mosby, 2. & 3. Phil Vasser concert with Lindsay, Lindsey, & Lauren  4. game night with Kenny, Rachel & baby Evie 5. night out with Stefanie & Mark

As for my other two goals (blog and Etsy), I'm working on making the time and gaining some confidence to share my blog more. A special thanks to those of you who give me such encouraging words & pass my blog on to others. 

I may have overdone the "getting off the couch" part, as I was sick all week. I'm a little behind on my blog, and hope to be back with another post later this week. I have an idea that I'm excited to work on and share.

Until then, keep crafting!

SB

Jeremy's Christmas Present

Jeremy's Gift

Happy New Years, Everyone! I've had a busy couple weeks since I wrote last. Although my last day of work was the 14th, I spent the week before Christmas "elfing" lots of Christmas presents, which I'll be revealing in the next few posts.

I want to start off with Jeremy's Christmas presents. I decided to do a little extra for him this year. Instead of a present or two on Christmas, I did the "Twelve Days of Christmas" for him. It went over big! (It would have gone over bigger, but I forgot the last four gifts in Chicago, so he didn't get the until New Year's Day.)

With the photos of his gifts, I'm also sharing 12 of my favorite memories from the holiday season. Enjoy!

~one~

The first gift was a gift card for coffee from a new coffee shop in our neighborhood, Gaslight.

The first memory is from my first weekend off. Jeremy and I went to a pie shop in our neighborhood, Bang Bang Pie. We've been hearing great things about it, so we went for a breakfast of coffee, bacon, and 3 Christmas flavored pies (think chocolate peppermint, pear minced, and gingerbread). They were so good and it felt great to sit back and relax into the holiday spirit.

~two~

The second gift was one of Jeremy's favorite chocolate treats.

The second memory was a snowy walk with my mom and Mosby. One of my favorite activities up north,  in any season, is hiking. The snow is such a beautiful addition to the hike.

~three~

Jeremy's third gift was nerd ropes. Like me, my husband loves children's candy.

The third memory is Mosby and Sofia interacting. Both are fascinated with each other. This picture is just one of the countless moments Sofia spent studying the furry creature.

~four~

Jeremy's fourth gift was a cap he has been wanting for awhile. One of his buddies teamed up with friends to create Grassroots. Jeremy loves their hats, we both love supporting friend's businesses, and he had yet to by himself one. He was thrilled and wore the hat through most of Christmas.

 The fourth memory was watching Sofia on her 1st Christmas morning. She was fascinated by the wrapping paper and even helped pull some off. It's fun to think about her during all of the Christmas seasons to come.

~fifth~

Jeremy was instructed not to open the fifth present until he got to work one morning. He opened up his gift to see a mug with our little guy on it. I used one of our favorite photos of Mosby, hiking up north, to bring a little cheer to Jeremy's cubicle.

 

 And speaking of hiking, after opening gifts with my side on Christmas Eve morning, Jeremy and I took Mosby for a little hike. Although we love being around our families for Christmas, it was nice to take a little walk, with just our little family. It may become a Christmas tradition.

~six~

Jeremy also had to wait to open his sixth gift until he got to work. Jeremy had no pictures of us at work, so I gave him one of my favorite photos of us, taken at our rehearsal dinner by my best friend Maggie. I put it in one of the coolest frames I own, given to me by my Aunt Mary Ellen a couple years ago for Christmas.

 

 My sixth memory is especially special to me. My Gram on Christmas Eve. She LOVES her first great grandbaby and she thinks her grandkids are pretty great too. We had a really fun night together.

~seven~

Jeremy's seventh gift was a six pack of beer, dressed as reindeer.

My seventh memory is hanging out with Jeremy's side all day Christmas Day. We had so much fun opening gifts, eating lots of good food, and playing Erica's new dancing games on Wii. Jeremy's sister Liz is the undisputed Wii dancing champion. She has some mad skills.

~eight~

 Jeremy's eighth gift was for him and his coworkers. I baked some candy cane chocolate chip cookies and chocolate covered candy canes for him and his crew. The candy cane turned out especially well. I got the recipe from Pinterest.

The day after Christmas, we went ice skating. This proved to be a bit of a hard work out than expected and the kids may have spent more time on the ice than their feet. Sans a few adult falls, fun was had by all.

 *a bonus memory that didn't get puotographed. My dad and I saw The Hobbit together. It's been a tradition for us to see all of the Tolkien books turned movies together since the first Lord of the Ring movie. It was nice to spend one on one time with him.

~nine~

 Jeremy's ninth gift was a Christmas ornament. This is our 5th Christmas together, and we add a new ornament every year. Since this was also the year we were married, I used an extra wedding invite to make the ornament. More on how I did it in a later post.

The day after Christmas, we also had an outdoor fire with popcorn popping and did some sledding. I sent Mosby down the hill with Ava a couple times. Turns out dogs don't like sledding and he spent the rest of the night trying to get back inside.

~ten~

Jeremy's tenth gift was tricky to pull off. I had started knitting a hat for Jeremy, but stopped because I had gotten too busy. Or so he thought. I was actually knitting whenever I had a chance. On the bus, on the train, befor he woke up. Coupled with two restarts because of size issues, I was quite pleased to have it done.

The tenth memory is going geocaching with Jeremy's parents while four wheeling and/or hiking. For those of you that don't know, geocaching is kind of like a treasure hunt. People hide boxes full of little prizes and upload the coordinates to a website. You use a GPS to find the prizes and sign in that you have found the prize. It was Jeremy and my first time and we had a blast tracking through the woods.

~eleven~

Jeremy's eleventh gift was a new pair of fleece pants. He wore his old ones for two years straight. They've held up, but lost their fluff. It was time for a new pair.

We spent New Year's Eve with our friend, Lindsay and Mosby's buddy Frank. We had a fun, relaxing time. Mosby and Frank did not.  Party apparel and noise makers do not make for happy, relaxed dogs.

~twelve~

Jeremy's final gift was a book/CD that I heard about on NPR. Famous chefs gave a music producer their favorite recipes and types of music. He created the recipe project, and the recipes are sung. It's ridiculous and funny. But, some of the recipes look awesome.

My final memory is my Christmas present from Jeremy. He got me two tickets to Potted potter. It's a two man parody of all seven Harry Potter books, which I love. It was a great show and we had a lovely date night.

I'll be back soon with some more Christmas projects. Right now I'm in Pennsylvania snuggling with one of my oldest and best friends children. More on that later too.

Until next time, keep crafting.

SB