New Bow Colections

I made a ton of new bows!

Take a look in my shop HERE.  I price them to sell!

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Settling In

I have been dreaming (ok Pinterest-ing) ways to make my life easier.  We have been in this house for almost 6 months and now that the boxes are unpacked and the place is livable, I am going back and making some minor changes.  Specifically, cost free changes!

I got this book and read most it... some of it fit and some of it didn't.

I do not have the de-cluttering issue most

of these type of books deal with because we just moved in

 and we got rid of a ton.... really I bet it weighed a ton.

In a nutshell, Mindy suggests not to change your behavior, but to make your house fit your behavior.  For example if you have a cute little key holder in your kitchen, but everyone drops there keys on the buffet at the door... do not nag and complain, just move the key holder!  Like wise, if laundry piles up on the bathroom floor instead of making its way into the hamper in the closet... move the hamper to the bathroom!  She also discourages buying lots of bins, baskets, and racks- what?  Yup... if you think a basket will work on the counter to catch the junk mail, start with a shoe box...

 if it works go get a cute basket. 

Hmmm, that's new to me! 

Guess my old "I can't be organized until I make a trip to The Container Store" line is out the window-eh?

I have also been re-reading the Fly Ladies web site.  The best advice I picked up here is first get up and get dressed... seems easy enough, but trust me it is way too easy for me to wear my pjs to the couch for my coffee and computer time, then make breakfast, the get the kids ready, and THEN throw on some clothes!  She also says to find your one spot and keep it clean.  You know the "one spot" that fills you up when it looks good... the whole house looks awful, but this spot is presentable you can breath spot... yup, that one. For her it is her sink, for me it is my master bedroom... I feel 100 times better if I take 5 minutes and make my bed and another five to clear off my dresser! 

 FlyLady.net is a wonderful website with lots of practical info and videos!

One of my "hot spots" is the desk area in our kitchen- UGH!

Sometimes I wish we wouldn't have even added it in to the plans!

I use 'busy bags' in the evening when I am cooking

 with the kids and they kinda took over...

 So I now use 'busy boxes'-lol.  Ahh, much better!

This cabinet by our breakfast table, holds alot of kid stuff that needs adult supervision.  I had some puzzles and too many extras in there... so they were relocated to the downstairs living room, where we can all do puzzles.  Who would have thought that they are now used twice as much as before!  

 I still have a few more details to fix, but so far I like my start!

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Gratitude Journal

Several months ago I pinned an adorable gratitude journal from HERE. 

More recently my very creative friend Erin

made THIS even more adorable journal. 

 In keeping with my OLW mission...

I made me one to help me "Settle" down.

So here is my mini version.

I keep it on my night stand with a few Project Life Cards

and make myself write a few notes before I pick up my book or kindle.

So far so good. 

I do wish I would have titled it "365 thoughts of gratitude"

as sometimes I write down two thoughts and believe it or not (haha)

sometimes I am too tired to even jot down a few words!

I used this cute little paper clip to hold my place.

I made several little pocket sized journals for a tutorial on my scrappin' blog.

You can read all about it HERE in the No No Room.

Oh, and did I mention they were made from 3 for $1 notebooks.

Some are from gifts and some will find their way into my shop.

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Scrappy Magnetic Block Frames

Before Christmas I made a few of these wooden block frames.

Most sold, but this cutie pie is still left.

I am adding it my Etsy Shop.

I super love the vintage cherry designed paper.

The frame will hold up to a 5X7 photo.

Under the paper I glues a thin magnetic strip.

Then I modge podge the paper on top of it.

This was the photo can me attach with these cute little embellished buttons.

Just something different from the clothes pins I was using,

It think it would look adorable in a kitchen for holding recipe cards.

Waiting for a free weekend to make some more.

Such a fun was to display photos, cards, and other memorabilia.

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Project Life!!

For Christmas my mom gave me my project life kit...

yup, she who gave me life, now gives me project life!

If you are not familiar with project life...

have you been living under the scrap booking rock?

I kid. I kid.  Check out THIS video and try not to tear up!

The kit I went with is the Turquoise kit...

but she has four kits, all equally fantastic.

I picked this one because the design matches well

with lots of paper I stole was given

from my mom by Stampin' Up. 

I am really sticking to the original concept of Project Life.

In other words, it is going to be more journaling and pictures

with less embellishing, designing, and artistic stuff. 

Don't get me wrong I have a whole Pinterest board

devoted to beautifully embellished Project Life pages,

but for me... 

 I want to strictly use it to document our daily life.

(hold me to that, girls!)

For example... this resent picture of Addy!

This is what happens when she has chocolate ice cream

30 minutes past her bedtime! 

She is too tired to find her mouth!

 I still hope to make other layouts full of pretty things,

but my hope is for Project Life to be our family legacy...

the book my grand kids will cherish!

And look... even my last page is already done!

 

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One Little Word 2012

 (Photo Credit)

It is that time of year again... time to pick my OLW.

Last year my word was FAITH and the year before that it was FAMILY.

This year my little word is not so little and it hit me like a ton of bricks.

Hold on because it might surprise you...

 I know, I know the first thing you think of is "Never settle for less than you deserve"or
that 'settleing' is lowering expectations, boring, lazy, not learning or growing...
But we are thinking more like this... 
We are thinking settle means...
to put in order... to make make calm... to establish residence..
to decide... to rest... to form a community.

The bible tells us...
This really speaks to me... we have worked so hard to "build our house"  Between Adam's deployment, the death of my Nana and his dad, our miscarriages, our moves, all of the ups and downs we have survived... it is time to slow down and reap what we have sown!

Don't get me wrong... I would love a new camera or mini van. I beat myself up over my weight and my perpetual mountain of laundry. My undone and always growing 'to-do list' makes me fell inadequate everyday....every. flippin'. day. I do not have enough time to sew and craft.  And would you believe we have never been on a plane together?! 
 The list of expectations and dreams still live on,
but it just is not going to haunt me in 2012!
I am enough.
I have enough.
It is time to let the dust settle and life see clearly.

I am no longer going to focus of being more than I am,
wanting more than I have,
or striving for any sort of perfection.
What?  Ouch!
It sounds so good, but it is not me...
I am a classic Capricorn, oldest child, over achiever, people pleaser,
after all I am my mother's daughter and it took her along to figure this out!
I made myself this cute little tag and all the quotes above
to help me remember to settle in and settle down.

So what will you OLW be, eh?
Visit Alie Edward's blog to be inspired!

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December Daily: Week 4

Monday, December 26th... The kids were more than ready to hang our with Lala and our neighbors and play the day away. I was having major issues... everything was driving me nuts... I had to get cleaning and organizing!

I am pretty sure it was a first and thanks to my mom and Adam I had plenty of help taking everything down, cleaning, and packing it all back up!... okay, almost all of it!

Monday, December 27th:

Adam went back to work and my mom headed home, too. It was sad, but thank goodness Lala made me a big batch of her fudge before she left... trust me it helped. Things we quite and I could feel everything calming down.

Wednesday, December 28th:

It was my parents 38th wedding anniversary which was pretty remarkable if you ask me!

Ah, happy mail! My sweet friend Erin sent us the best 'post Christmas' care package, which quickly snapped up back into excitement. She made both kids the most incredible scarfs and sent a bunch of fun gingerbread men stuff. And I got some scrappin' stuff... more on that later!!

We also got our last Christmas card... and I just can't seem to take any of them down!

Thursday, December 29th:

Jolene came to town for a sleep over. She arrived in time for what the neighborhood has coined 'the parade' It happens between 4:30 and 5:30 every night. All the kids come out.

Bicycles, jeeps, scooter, push toys, shopping carts you name it... and ya better drive slow.

After bath, the kids all put on their new robes and cuddled up for a movie!

Friday, December 30th:

Family fun playing our new Wii games.... more on that later, too!

Saturday, December 31st...

My birthday! I have to give a shout out to my wonderful husband who made my day very special with lots of attention and thoughtfulness! He even went shopping with me! After we hunted down a Kindle Fire we went to lunch at one of my favorite places, Chuys! Where I had plenty of chips and jalapeno ranch dip! Not to mention a frozen birthday beverage with salt!

After a nice nap, we had my mini party complete with balloons, cake, more presents, and the cutest rendition of 'Happy Birthday'

Then we headed outside to bring in the new year with our neighbors!

The fire crackers and roasted marshmallows reminded me of my childhood... ummm, the cops coming by reminded me of my college days... lol,

And that is it... that is how we do December at The Fey House!

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