WOO-HOO! 2011!

Ahhhh, the New Year. I don't know about you, but I get so excited for the incoming year! It's a time to look with hope and excitement toward a bright and shiny future ~ to break old habits and become better versions of ourselves ~ to write a list of goals and resolutions, stick to them like glue for the first 2-3 weeks and then forget you'd ever set out to reach them in the first place. {sigh}

Last year, SNDR was brand-spankin' new & I felt compelled to share my list of goals for 2010. I then set about failing to fully reach any of them. That's not entirely true ~ I'm being too hard on myself ~ but I have to admit that I half-a$$ed it through quite a few of the items on my list. I did use my sewing machine, but I've far from mastered it. I learned to crochet, but still can't knit. I ran the full 5k distance on a handful of occasions, but I never entered a race. I spent more time going out with friends, but it still wasn't as much as I'd hoped for. I did give more generously to food banks and the like & I did try out quite a few new recipes, although I'm not sure if I pulled off 1 per month. I started on the bedroom, made myself a new headboard and chose a paint color, but I didn't get around to purchasing or using the paint & the hampers in my bedroom can't seem to stay away for more than a couple of weeks at a time. My sleep schedule is still seriously jacked up ~ and it's even worse than it has been b/c of Christmas "vacation". Oh...and I haven't given up swearing ~ I'm not sure that's even possible for me, really.

As I was sitting here thinking about my {massive} failure, I came to the conclusion that the reason I didn't reach my goals is because I didn't write them out and put them someplace where I would come face to face with them every day. I was contemplating writing them down on a very stylish & sexy sheet of college-ruled notebook paper when Jen at TT&J posted a link to a blog I've never happened upon before. I headed over to 30 Days and saw an adorable printable that Mique has been kind enough to share with us all. It's super cute and happy! Unfortunately it doesn't quite go with what I have going on in my craft room....so I used her printable as inspiration and made one of my own, which I'm also sharing with you all!

Click here to download the 8x10.

And remember, you can always have it printed at your local photo lab if you don't have a color printer.

Of course, making this myself allowed me to go back into PS & type in my goals for the year after I'd saved the blank printable for you loveleys ~ now all I have to do is head to Costco tomorrow and pick up my print....so I can tack it up right next to my computer....where it will stare me in the eye every day. Hopefully I'll do better w/ sticking to my goals in the new year!

I hope everyone has a fantastic time ringing in the new year ~ Be Smart ~ Be Safe ~ PLEASE Don't Drink & Drive! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hello, Again!

OK, so I'm more than a little behind. As many of you know firsthand, when you're a stay-at-home-mom the "vacation" part of Christmas vacation is pretty much non-existant. We spend a lot of time baking, shopping, wrapping, cooking, cleaning, driving, and kid-occupying. Not that that's not enjoyable (at least to a point), but it leaves little time for some of the other fun stuff a lot of us would rather be doing. I managed one project over break, and I'm just now getting around to sharing it....because I am, after all, a world-class slacker.

I started out with a massive wooden frame that I got a couple of years ago at a garage sale for $3. I completely disregarded the warnings on the spray paint and went out to the garage on a less-than-50° day to hit it with a coat or 2 of silver.

Once it was dry, I used the handy dandy staple gun to attach a rope to the back of the frame - zig-zagging back and forth in a big "z" pattern.

Then I stuck the sucker on the wall, using clothespins to attach the cards to the rope. Ta-Da!

By the time Christmas actually rolled around I was running out of room in the frame, so I'm thinking I'll have to attach another line or 2 of rope onto the back before next year. I'm also toying with the idea of putting this frame up in my craftroom to hold art projects from the tiny people, thus keeping my fancy magnet board clear for other things.

Christmas here was phenominal - filled with a lot of fun and some wonderful family time that just plain doesn't happen often enough. We're looking forward to a New Year filled with (hopefully) only good things - and I wish the same for you!

We've Got Spirit, Yes We Do....

This week is Spirit Week at Tiny Person 1's elementary school ~ and we're having waaaay too much fun with it this year.

The school is celebrating it's 50th anniversary, so they chose to use Decades as the theme. Monday was 60s Day, and I had a few ideas rolling around in my noggin. I called my mom, who was in HS in the 60s and she offered some helpful suggestions and insight, and then I set about my search. I was planning on having her wear an untucked men's style white button down over dark jeans, cuffed with one wide roll...but do you think I could find the right kind of shirt? Of course not. What I {did} find, though, was sooooo much better. At Target, I stumbled upon a sweater which looks, to me anyway, exactly like the old letterman sweaters from back in the day. And it was on sale. {SCORE!} I hatched a plan.

First, I found a font that was meant to look like an old-school varsity letter. It's a {huge} help to find one that shows an outer and inner version of the letter...you'll see why later. I printed it in a size that I thought looked about right, checked it against the sweater to make sure it would fit, and cut it out. I then traced the shape onto the grey felt, which I was using as an accent color. Then I cut the shape out of the grey felt. Here's a picture of the felt, with the outer shape cut.

I then cut out the inner letter from the printed "H"...

I traced the letter onto the burgundy felt and cut it out.

Then I placed the inner letter inside the outer letter, just as it appears in the font that I used, and secured the 2 layers together with no-sew fabric glue.

I attached the letter to the sweater using the same glue, for a temporary hold. My sweet neighbor, Sue, who kicks butt with her sewing machine (without even swearing at it much!) offered to stitch the letter on for me when I showed it to her, so it will soon be permanent. :)

So there you have it! The sweater was around $8 on sale. The felt is usually 25cents a sheet, but was 50% off, so I only paid a quarter to personalize the sweater. And the tiny person {loves} it. I'm sure she'll ask to wear it again...which is fine by me ~ it's stinkin' cute!

Today is 70s Day, which we kind of phoned in with a shirt she already had and a pair of corduroy pants. But 80s Day.....ooooooh, just you wait for 80s Day! ;)