How the crap did I forget that I'm famous today?

I don't normally post two posts in a day, and I've already posted the rhinestone post this morning. And I know you're loving the shirts that I blinged out for my crumb snatchers darling daughters.

I somehow forgot that I was guest posting over at House of Hepworths today. And Allison's blog is famous, and I'm on it, so yeah. Totally famous now. So, dear LC&W readers, you can totally say you knew me way back when. (Seriously, this whole June/July thing is throwing me off. You don't want to see my calender for those two months, scratch outs everywhere. I keep writing things down on the wrong month.)

But yeah, Allison rocks. And now I rock. And you'll rock if you check me out.

It's a rock trifecta.

Sorry Silhouette, I love you but I'm cheap

Do you all remember a few months ago, when Silhouette came out with the rhinestone stuff? The starter kits, the rhinestones, the template material, the transfer tape? You know what I'm talking about. It was ALL over Blogland.

Now, I'm all about saving money. I hate spending money when I can just use my noggin and figure out a way around it. 

I have an awesome aunt in Korea, and her job is to put rhinestones on saris. And whenever a project is over, she sends me all the remaining iron on rhinestones. Last time I got a package from her, there were 40,000 rhinestones. No, I'm not exaggerating. I had 4 bags of 10k each. Crazy cool, huh? Seriously, I'll never be able to use all of them, and I put them on everything my girls own. And if you're a crafty buddy of mine, you can probably expect to get a few, right Lesley?

I hit up Old Navy last week when they were having their $2 tank sale, and picked up a couple for each of the girls. But being that they were plain, I knew I had to do something with them. 

I've use the rhinestones before, and usually just make up a pattern, lay them down and iron them on. I was determined to find a way to make it look cleaner. 

According to the Silhouette rhinestone instructions, it basically says

1. download and cut out the pattern

2. pull off the backing (like vinyl I assume)

3. attach it to a backing board

4. place the rhinestones on the holes

5. cover it with the transfer paper

6. life the rhinestones that are now attached to the transfer paper

7. iron on

8. remove the transfer paper

9. iron on the backside

Do you want to know how I got around that (and spending more money?)

I downloaded the image that I wanted, and had my Silhouette cut it out on regular paper. If you use the wrong carrier sheet like I did (oops) and your paper curls when you pull it off, you can iron it (which is what I did and why there are wrinkles. Oops)

Have your husband line it up on the tank top. That way, if it ends up crooked, you have someone else to blame. I trim off the extra paper, and leave about an inch border so I have some space to put the pins on.

Once we agreed it was on there straight, I pinned it to the shirt.Then I start putting on the bling. I always start placing the rhinestones on from the center out. That way, if you're slightly off, it doesn't skew your whole piece. My ironing board looks so skanky. Please don't judge me.

I decided to leave out the tail on the wand, and the top rhinestone on the letter e "tail". I iron it after every 25 or so rhinestones to attach those. Don't want to lay out all of your rhinestones, and then your kids you bump your shirt and they all get dislodged. Just follow the directions on your rhinestones. For mine, I cover with a cloth and press.

You can totally make changes to it too. After I took off the paper, I thought the tail on the p needed to be longer. So I placed the paper back on the shirt and used the stencil to figure out my spacing, and ironed on two more rhinestones.

And here is my finished piece. All sorts of gorgeous, without having to buy the kit from Silhouette.

Here is a pic of the one I did the day before.

And a pic of them together.

So there you have it, dear LC&W readers. I know not everyone has a bling hook up like I do. I've seen iron on rhinestones at Michaels, Hobby Lobby, and the Silhouette online store. So yeah, you might spend some money on the bling, but maybe I just saved you from having to buy the $30 rhinestone starter kit.

You're welcome. :)

I wanna party

Have you heard of the Creativity Expo?

Have you heard of the Creativity Expo? No? Then keep reading.

Wholeport is hosting a Creativity Expo. They will send you a FREE sample of YOUR choice, with FREE shipping. The catch? You must create something with your free sample, and post it on their facebook wall. Oh, and did I mention that when you post the pic on FB, you are entered in a competition for a $50 coupon to www.wholeport.com. Hard, right? 

Interested? Want to know more? Pictured below are the 9 gorgeous samples you can pick from. I couldn't decide between numbers 3, 5 and number 8. I ended up going with number 8. Wholeport has already mailed my package, AND sent me a picture of what beads they were sending.

You can find descriptions of the nine supplies by clicking on the images below and by visiting this album on their facebook page.

So you want to PARTICIPATE?

1. Like them on facebook or follow them on twitter and then send an email to create@wholeport.com saying that you have done so. Make sure you mention in your email which of the nine crafting supplies you would like to receive and include your mailing address.
2. Create your masterpiece. They want you to incorporate these supplies into the most beautiful, unique, fun, CRAZY crafts you can think of! Have fun with it.
3. Admire it for a moment.
4. Then take a picture of it and post it on their facebook wall along with a description of which supply package you used and what you intend your creation to be. They will upload your picture and description into the Creativity Expo Contestants facebook album. Each person to upload a photo of his or her creation will also receive a $2 coupon to www.wholeport.com!
5. The top 10 creations with the most likes on facebook will each win a $50 cash coupon for www.wholeport.com. So tell your friends, your family, your acquaintances, everyone! The more people that see your lovely work, the merrier!

That pesky little FINE PRINT…

The deadline for requesting one of the nine crafting supply packs is July 9^th 2011.

The competition to receive a $50 coupon to www.wholeport.com will continue until August 1^st 2011.

Any QUESTIONS?…

Please check out the Creativity Expo FAQ section. Or if you have questions or comments on WholePort, the Creativity Expo, crafting, or life in general, please don’t hesitate to contact them at create@wholeport.com .

So, dear LC&W readers, are you doing to do it?

If I win one of the ten $50 prizes, I'll be getting some of these cloisonne beads. There are so many gorgeous things on their site though, and the prices are so cheap, that I'll be able to get a ton of things. Which is AWESOME.

Musical Princess Potty? You're FIRED.

We decided to start potty training my middle daughter when she was about 18 months old. I was working as a waitress, and my husband was staying home with the kids (he had just moved down to Texas to be with me and wasn't working yet). So he took on the responsibility of potty training Jasmin. 

We went to Walmart, and him, being the nice guy, decided to pay the extra money and spring for a musical potty. You know the ones, they play a little song when your child goes potty in them.  Like, woo-hoo! You went potty, here is a little ditty for ya.

So, one day, he sat in the bathroom all day with her, loaded her up on liquids, and waited, M&M's on the counter, ready for her to go potty and try out the new seat. 

She started doing the "pee-pee" dance, so he sat her on the princess potty, ready for her to go potty so they could hear the music and enjoy an M&M. 

Jasmin started to potty, and as soon as the music started playing, she screamed, jumped up and ran to the corner of the bathroom. And yes, while she was running and crying in the corner, she was still peeing. Fun, right?

Ever since then, every time Jake would try and get her to sit on the potty, she would refuse. And if you tried to pick her up to sit her on it, she would make a guttural scream (we called it the Gremlin sound). So as you can imagine, potty training her was a long, hard process, thanks to an apparently very scary chair. 

I recently found a product called a Little Looster that I would have loved to have had with Jasmin's potty training. Like you I'm sure, I hate spending money that I don't have to. I wasted $30 on a princess potty that Jasmin hated. And after we finally got her to use that, it was soon time to transition her to using the regular toilet. Why not save a step (and money?).

The Little Looster is a stool that wraps around the base of the toilet. Instead of your child having to have their feet in front of them (like with a regular rectangle stool), they can have them out to the sides (where it's more comfortable for them). I was a little worried about the size of it when I received it, but it fits snugly around the toilet, meaning neither hubby or I have to move it out of the way when we use that bathroom. Plus, in the girls bathroom, the sink is in one part, and behind another door is the toilet and shower. I'm able to open and close the door, even with the Little Looster around the toilet. 

It helps keep your kids stable when they're on the toilet, which means no more having to grab the sides of the toilet (YUCK) to keep from falling in. 

My older daughters are 5 and 8, and they love having it in there. They've both said how much easier it makes it to sit on the toilet. 

 
I took these photos of Jasmin earlier to show you what a difference the Little Looster has made. And I didn't notice until I uploaded the pic that on the pic without the Looster, Jasmin has her hands on the sides of the toilet for balance (Yucky yucky). 

I've been really happy with my Little Looster, which retails for $35. Have I mentioned that it's a 2011 Gold Medal winner? And it's been featured on Parents.com and on Fox News? 

Monica at Little Looster is offering Life, Crafts and Whatever readers a $5 discount. Use the code REV6MM when you check out. 

Thank you Monica for allowing me to try one of these. I know when it's time to potty train Ava, this will be a much better potty training experience than what we had with Jasmin. 

Highs and Lows... I've lost count

So here we are again. Time for Highs and Lows. Pretty simple. Share the highs and lows of your week. This link party hasn't been a hit like I hoped, but what can you do? It gives me a chance to count my blessings and remember my week.

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Highs

• Hit up Old Navy on Friday for their $2 tank pre-sale. Went right when it opened and was able to score 6 tanks for myself, and two each for Arielle and Jasmin. Spend Saturday blinging them out, super cute if I can brag. Tutorial to come. Spent some time laughing at the Old Navy FB page, reading about all the people who are super pissed that their store didn't have their color/size in stock. I understand being upset, but throwing a fit on FB isn't going to magically make your size be in stock. Come on, buy a tank at the sale price, and then exchange it in a week for the correct size/color. Easy peasy. Not worth crying about. 

• had to return a dress that I bought for Ava, since our family pics were rescheduled and she's outgrown it. Found one online that I LOVED, was upset that I couldn't find it at Old Navy. Asked an employee, she said it was on clearance and they might not carry it anymore. We went over to the clearance rack, and they had ONE. In Ava's size. Woot! 

• Hubby got some freelance projects completed. He's been really busy with a website redesign, a book cover and logo, and DVD covers. And all 3 were approved.  Final approval = invoice sent. 

• Hung out with my mom on Wednesday, always have fun with her. Was able to hit up Walmart to buy the colors for the giveaway winner's tray. Didn't forget about ya, LP!

• Bloggy BFF Lesley sent me a necklace. The number 3 (for 3 kids) and my girls initials on it. It's pimptastic. Seriously.

• My 5 year old finally wanted the training wheels off of her bike. Watched hubby chase her up and down the street for an hour, having to run half bent over to have a hand on her (she's tiny). Fell in love with him all over again.

• Had some one on one time with my oldest. Frozen yogurt + shopping = priceless. With 3 kids, we try and make sure we get some one on one time in.

• Got the centers of the centerpieces for Ava's birthday finished up. We're doing a circus theme. I'm excited, and spending way too much time on Pinterest, looking up ideas. It's not going to be as elaborate as my friend Julie's Dr Seuss party, but I'm excited about it. Julie is doing a circus theme for her daughter's 6th birthday, and it totally wouldn't surprise me if she had a real elephant there. She's crazy like that. :)

Lows

• You don't get to pick your in-laws. Nuff said. No worries to my father in law, Steve. You rock. I know I'm still your only favorite daughter in law.

• We were supposed to have a girls night on Friday, but it fell thru. People were tired, busy, out of town, etc. I was just in a funk so I didn't go, but looking forward to the next one.  

• My husband said I wasn't allowed to use more than 5 "f-bombs" in this next low. Was cutting paper all day on my Silhouette with no problems. Ran out of regular computer paper, grabbed a sheet of some other white paper. Which proceeded to come apart in layers, leaving layers of paper on the carrier sheet that were too thin to pull off. So I might have to buy a new carrier sheet, I dunno. Was super pissed. HP Premium Paper, my ass.

• Bought the girls a slip n slide at Walmart. Set it up, they were super excited. And then it bust a huge seam before they even got to try it once. So for the next 45 minutes, I sat outside with the water hose, spraying them and the slip n slide so they could play (torture for this girl who can't stand the heat). My forearm and thumb were cramping up (you know how you put your thumb on the water so it sprays out, am I making sense?). Turned into a high though. Had called hubby to ask when he was coming home and told him that they were upset that it was broken, and he came home with a new one. So they were finally able to play with it. Another low though, they slid better when I was spraying it with the hose. Like the slip n slide didn't put enough water on the slide, I dunno.

So there it is, folks.

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth.

Nope, I wasn't swallowed by a huge sinkhole. Didn't get sucked up into an alternate universe. Just been lazy.

And in between my bouts of laziness, I've been working on a spray painting project, and spending WAY too many hours on Pinterest. Is there a Pinterest Anonymous? If so, I'd need to go.

And I've been working a lot with my baby girl. She missed her momma last week at VBS. She's 10 months old, and still isn't standing, or putting any weight on her legs. Like, at all. She'll stand if you hold her up and lock her legs, but if not, she'll just pull them up. The pediatrician said that if she isn't doing it in 6 weeks, then we'll look into physical therapy (to see if it's laziness or an actual issue). But hubby and I aren't worried. I figure, she was premature, and spent over two months in the NICU, having surgery after surgery after surgery.  If she's a little behind, then she has every reason to be. I see the pediatrician's point about catching any problems early, but we're not worried.

I just recently started a Facebook page for this blog. Have you liked it? I'd love it if you would. How am I supposed to judge my self worth if the numbers are low?

                                                                  Source: topit.me via Corey on Pinterest

Wish I could take the credit for the super adorable pic and how it relates to my FB post, but I totally jacked the idea from Tara at FabuLessly Crafty. Even my cleverness is taking a break this week.

Damask painted tray winner revealed!

My giveaway for the damask tray in the winner's choice of color has ended. I had 113 entries, which is awesome.

I used the handy dandy Random.org, and it picked lucky number...

She's been a long time follower, and I know she's having a less than stellar week, so I hope this brings a smile to your gorgeous face! I'm off to email you, chick!

Highs and lows. Numero... something.

It's Sunday, so that means it's time for Highs and Lows.

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Highs

• I volunteered for Vacation Bible School again this past week. I'm usually in the nursery, but this year I was asked to be part of the souvenir/registration team. I spent most of my days blinging out the VBS shirts. For a crafter, it was a dream come true. It was really awesome to see the girls come pick out their shirts and be all excited about the bling. 

• I was saved on June 16th. I've wavered back and forth on the whole Christianity thing, and I'm blessed to have never felt any criticism from any of our friends (hubby works in a church, so most of our friends are church members/employees). But I met a wonderful lady that really spoke to my soul. I ended up praying with her and allowed Jesus into my heart. No worries, I'll still be the cursing, loud, tattooed chick I've always been. But there was a sense of peace. I have no idea what I said when I prayed outloud, but when it was over, I was crying, and so was she. She said it was the most beautiful prayer she's ever heard. I think I was meant to meet her. I posted about it on facebook later that day, and I got so many texts, comments and messages, some from people I didn't even know, saying that they've been praying for that for me for a while, and they're so happy to have me on board.

• Hubby was inspired by my being saved, and decided to recommit himself. He's always been raised in church, but never made the decision on his own. We went over to our friends house (the husband happens to be a pastor) and he prayed with my husband. 

• Our friend (the pastor mentioned above) is going to Baptize us on July 2nd. My good friend, Michaela, said it was a cause worth celebrating, and is throwing us an after party at her house. How awesome is that? What amazing friends. 

• Had a great girls night with my friends Erin and Candace.  Went to Chili's where we had horrible service and great conversation. 

• Had a great Father's Day with my hubby. I got him a frame with pics of the girls, and made cupcakes to look like a BBQ grill. Then we had a huge water balloon fight, girls against boy. 

• My girls stayed the night at my mom's on Saturday. Hubby and I had an all day date. Lunch at Five Guys, shopping at Kohls, went to see Super 8 on the IMAX screen, then shopping at Hobby Lobby for Ava's birthday stuff. Can't believe my baby girl is about to be 1. We got this photo in a booth at the theater. Best $3 I could have spent. Yes, I posted the same pic in my Father's Day post, but it's so cute I had to post it twice.

• My giveaway ends tonight, but I've gotten 50 new followers in the past week. Not because I bribed anyone with an awesomely epic tray, but because of my epic awesomeness. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. 

• The pastor mentioned above is leading a new campus of the church. At dinner, he said "Hey, you guys are brutally honest, want to do me a favor?" So hubby and I have been asked to show up unannounced at a sermon, and be brutally honest with what we think of the facility, the nursery, the people, etc. I love that we're known as the brutally honest people, instead of the ones who sugar coat everything.  

• My oldest daughter finally got her ears repierced. She's been asking to get it done for a while. So I took her up to my friends shop, and we double teamed her. Gotta love having a client who's mom is an ex-piercer, right? We did it at the same time so Arielle wouldn't back out after just one. But my big girl didn't even shed a tear. 

 

Lows

• Got in the stupidest fight with one of my good friends. I hate fighting with people, but I'm also a firm believer in letting someone know if I'm upset with them. So I did. And neither of us can really let go of our side to see the other person's side. So we both got butt hurt, and apologized, and we said we're good, but I'm afraid it's going to be weird when we hang out again. Do we acknowledge it, or pretend it didn't happen? Ugh. Girl World sucks! It'd be nice to be a dude. 

          "Hey, dude, what the crap?"

"Yeah, man, sorry. My bad, I wasn't thinking."

And then it's over and done with. Girls have to be all emotional, or passive aggressive, and drag the shit out. I know we still love each other, but damn. Suckage all the way around.

• two of our good friends' car got hit by another car, and that car took off. Thank God the lady's license plate fell off so they could find who it was. But there was no cameras on that intersection, and no one stopped as a witness. So it's their word against hers (she's claiming that it was they who took off and fled the scene). A silver lining would be that their two adorable babies weren't in the car. Thankful for small favors, right?

• The dryer door caught my middle finger nail and broke it down to the quick. Bleeding, pain, ouch. So that means that everything I tried to touch or grab all week made my finger start to throb. Ugh. 

• My car decided to be stupid, causing me to miss out on hitting up my favorite thrift store and lunch with my mom. Apparently the brake switch is bad on it and needs to be replaced. I pulled in the driveway, and couldn't put my car in park. Luckily the guy on the phone was able to tell me what to do to fix it, but by then, my mom was already eating (since I already called her to cancel) so goodbye lunch plans and shopping. 

So there you have it, another week where the highs outnumber the lows. Not too shabby. 

Fingers crossed that someone besides Julie links up :) Love ya, chick! Thanks for always playing along!

Happy Father's Day to my sexy amazing hubby

I seriously couldn't have picked a better father for my three girls. It's such an amazing feeling to find a person who loves your kids like their own, with no difference between step children and "real" children. That's hard to find.

 

Thank you for being the type of Daddy that Arielle deserves, and loving her as your own, even though there are some days we want to punch her in the head. Thank you for being firm with her, and guiding her to do the right thing (when it's the complete opposite of what she wants to do, and she makes that very well known). Thank you for doing homework with her, for teaching her to be a respectful young lady, and for always finding a way to bring a smile to her face when she wants to pout and shut down.

 

Thank you for being such a wonderful daddy to Jasmin, you're the only daddy she knows and remembers. Thank you for teaching her that she doesn't need to repeat herself 14 times for us to hear her. Thank you for making pink cupcakes with her, for answering all of her billion questions, for flying her into bed every night. Thank you for having so much patience with her, when I'm about to pull my hair out.

 

Thank you for giving me such a perfect, precious baby who looks just like you. For standing by my side through all the stress, and those long 66 days and 6 surgeries in the NICU. Thank you for always stepping in to help with the girls and housework when you get home, even though you've worked all day and I've just sat on the couch and watched SVU when I should have been cleaning. Thank you for showing me what kind of daddy I want for my girls.

And to my husband. 

Thank you for always being my partner in crime, for putting me and my girls above all others. 

Thank you for always making me laugh when I want to pull my hair out, and for making me want to be a better mother by watching you be an amazing father. 

Thank you for giving a meaning to the word "soul mate". 


Thank you for being my very best friend in the entire world. 


I love you Jake, there is none better.