Cutest Day Bed idea ever!!! DIY Project.

I wasn't able to pull the pics off this blog, but here is the link:

http://ashleyannphotography.com/blog/2009/06/29/diy-pallet-reading-bed-for-the-nursery/

I'd like to name my new car...

I've been following Royall's blog, and I love how she and Matt name their vehicles...in fact, I'm not sure if you know this or not Royall, but Auntie Bev used to name her vehicles too. I remember Betsy and Nellie. I am getting my new car on Saturday and would like to be clever, and have a perfect name ready, but I can't even decide if it's a boy or a girl...something I could easily ask Jane and she would immediately be able to tell me, as she is highly gender sensitive. I'm leaning female though. So how does one determine these things? Any ideas? My favorite name for a pet is Rufus...I named all my cats in my life that same name, with the exception of one crazy kitten we had called Khoshi (Happy in Farsi). I'm tempted to call my new car Poppy in honor of my poppygirl...or if I'd had another girl I would have named her Hannah...and I still kind of like the name Yellow, from Sarra's baby name list. There's Heber, after my Christmas birdie that we no longer have thanks to Eli. I am open to ideas.

Prayers

I've been listening to several days worth of morning, evening and meal time prayers with my grandchildren...and I have to say that Heavenly Father must be at his most convivial as he listens in on these sweet missives on behalf of these same children's parents, toys, pet rocks, ice cream, grammies, and animals. How could that not be the best part of the day?

Fun Jar...in action

I don't particularly like the name 'Boredom Jar' because I don't really believe in 'boredom'...I don't know if I've ever truly been bored - in grade 10 when my math teacher 'bored' me to tears, I took my crochet to class and crocheted blankets....so we renamed the jar the 'Fun Jar' because I DO believe in having fun. The grandchildren are with me for the week, so on Day 1 we made our 'Fun Jar' with all the ideas listed in the post below. Then we drew straws to see who would choose from the jar tomorrow...that would be Charlie. We had a perfect day today, except that at the end of the day, when it was time for bed we couldn't find Charlie's zebra or dolphin, which was a bit heart breaking:-) We'll look some more tomorrow.

Oquirrh Temple Open House

We attended the open house for the new Oquirrh Temple in South Jordan, Utah. Did you know that South Jordan is the first city in the world to have two temples within it's borders? Did you also know that Auntie can see the temple from her front yard, b/c it's only about 3 blocks away? Did you also know that someone about 4 doors down, built an enormous shed that totally blocks an otherwise perfect view of the temple from her back deck? That, my friend was tragical, and there wasn't a single thing that could be done about it. But she can still walk out the front or further out the back and see it, and she can see the Draper temple on a clear day from her deck chair. It's quite lovely to live in a land that is dotted with temples and steeples, so very pretty and a quiet but powerful reminder of our blessings.

Look at this Beautiful Poppy Fabric

I was able to find a quilt kit with this beautiful Poppy fabric as the back - I have gotten in way over my head with quilt projects, so I am going to remake my sewing area upstairs where I have so much room, and sew, sew, sew. First, the strip skirt shown in my last post for Jane, skirt/bloomers for Scarlet, and play totes for each of Jane, Charlie, Jacob and Scarlet. Then Jane's quilt, then Scarlet's and then maybe this poppy quilt for my living room, and then....well, let's see how far we get with these projects, I'm getting tired:-)

Two Really Cute Patterns

These outfits for little girls are so darling, and easy to sew. The Patterns are created by 'Pink Fig' and can be found online, or at quilting shops. My little Jane is going to be wearing one of these very soon:-)

Support the brave people of Iran as they fight for democracy.

Sad Day in Iran

I received a heartbroken email from my sister-in-law this morning - the people of Iran are incredulous that there could be such a major disconnect between the enthusiasm for MirHossein Moussavi and the the election outcome in favor of Ahmadinejad. Time will tell if it was rigged, and whether the people can take back their country and their lives. It is sad and disheartening for them now, they could use our prayers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNL6lKovn3w

Boredom Bottle

I love this idea, and would have used it with my kids for the summer if they were still little and at home (a true stretch since the eldest is 28! and youngest is 19) - but Sarra, you could do this...it was lifted from a blog called 'the Observations of an Everyday Mom' at observationsofaneverydaymom.blogspot.com.

"Because it is summer and our kids are out of school, here is the list of activities in the Boredom Bottle. I tried to make the activities the kind that you could do without having to make a trip to the store. Low cost and high fun! You know my motto - Quick, Easy and CHEAP!!!

**Thumb wrestle
**Play charades
**Blow bubbles
**Juggle tennis balls
**Read a story
**Play hopscotch
**Make a paper bag puppet
**Bowling with a tennis ball and plastic bottles
**Write a letter to someone special
**Build a tower with toothpicks and marshmallows
**Sing along with your favorite songs
**Play “penny basketball” using your hands for the hoop
**Make a foil family
**Play dress up
**Make a vest out of a large paper bag
**Have a scavenger hunt (indoors or out)
**Finger paint with instant pudding
**Bake cookies
**Play “I Spy...”
**Play “Twenty Questions”
**Make a mural with sidewalk chalk.
**Make a dot-to-dot picture for someone to do.
**Play charades
**Take a walk.
**Play catch.
**Have a picnic (indoors or out).
**Have relay races.
**Have a water balloon fight.
**Put on a play.
**Make paper plate masks.
**Watercolor
**Bake cookies.
**Dance to your favorite music.
**Play “Hide and Seek”.
**Play “Red Light, Green Light”.
**Play Double Dutch with two jump ropes.
**Play hide the beanbag
**Play balloon volleyball.
**Try drawing a picture while blindfolded.
**Play Simon Says
**Make jewelry out of paper clips.
**Have a “bike wash” – it’s like a carwash but with bikes.
**Learn some magic tricks and put on a show.
**Make designs on a piece of paper using a hole punch.
**Make a Hacky-Sack-type ball and play the game – Use a funnel to fill a 7" balloon with dried beans or rice. When it’s nearly full, remove the funnel, tie the end and trim the excess. Stretch a second balloon over the first, tie the ends, making sure the knots are at opposite ends.
**Play “Froot Loop” Air Hockey – Draw a playing field (or big square) on a sheet of paper and place a Froot Loop (or any O-shaped cereal) in the center. Each child gets a drinking straw and tries to blow the cereal into the other’s goal box to score a point. The winner is the first to get five points!
**Make scratch-and-sniff water color paints – Just add 1 tablespoon water to one small envelope of unsweetened Kool-Aid and you’re ready to paint!
**Make homemade musical instruments with a comb and waxed paper or out of toilet paper rolls.
**Shine pennies – Fill a small container with vinegar. Place some unshiny pennies in the container so they are submerged. Pour some salt in and swish the pennies around. Wait about five minutes then take the pennies out. Rinse them with water and let them dry.
**Make pet rocks – Decorate a rock with paint, markers, and “googly” eyes.
**Make Ball Catchers – Using a clean, dry milk carton or laundry detergent bottle, cut the bottom off the container. Then cut a “U” shape under the handle (make sure you don’t cut into the handle). It will look like a scoop. Decorate with tape or paint markers.
**Make a mobile – Use shells, pine cones, buttons, chili peppers, whatever. Use string to make two dowels or sticks into an “X” shape. Tie the objects onto several different lengths of string. Tie the string with the objects to the dowels at all four corners and at different places along the dowels. You can also use a clothes hanger.
**Make flying saucers – Tape two paper plates together. Glue a paper bowl to the top to make a cabin for the crew. Decorate.
**Make “Glurch” – Mix ½ cup white glue and ¼ cup liquid starch in a disposable cup. Stir with a popsicle stick. Remove the Glurch from the cup and knead it until smooth. If it sticks to your hands, mix in 1 teaspoon starch. If it’s stringy, mix in ½ teaspoon glue. Store Glurch in a self-sealing plastic bag.
**Make mud bricks – Mix water in soil until it has a dough-like texture. (If soil is sandy, add one part flour to four parts soil.) Shape into rectangles and let set. Use a wet table knife to cut various size bricks. When stacking bricks, spread a fresh batch of “mortar” between the layers. Build walls, houses, cities.
**Make a piñata – Tape boxes together to make an animal. Decorate with crepe paper, feathers, leaves and tissue paper.
**Make an obstacle course (indoors or outdoors) – Crawl under chairs, through tunnels made out of boxes, walk along a curvy hose or dodge a sprinkler. Get creative!
**Make an underwater viewer – Cut the top and bottom off of a clean half-gallon milk carton. Stretch plastic wrap over the bottom and secure with a rubber band.
**Make an ocean in a bottle – Get a clean plastic soda or water bottle. Fill it halfway with water and add a few drops of food coloring. Add confetti or glitter, shells, small toys, etc. Using a funnel, fill the bottle the rest of the way with vegetable oil. Put a dab of glue around the threads on the bottle top and screw on the cap tightly.
**Make pinecone bird feeders – Cover a pinecone with peanut butter and then roll in bird seed.
**Say Tongue Twisters - try “Six slippery sliding snakes”; “Flat-fish fleets”; “This’ll sift the thistle sifter”; “She sells seashells by the seashore”.
**Go on a newspaper (or magazine) scavenger hunt – Look for things in the newspaper or magazine (such as a picture of a car, a picture of someone with brown eyes, a certain word, etc). After you’ve found the item, pass the magazine to someone else to see if they can find the same thing.
**Make Rainbow Crayons – Remove the wrappers from old crayons and put them ½ inch deep in an empty tuna cans (or a muffin tin lined with foil). Bake the crayons in a preheated 300° oven for 5-7 minutes. Watch them closely, because they melt quickly. Melt them just enough to blend the colors, but not so much that they completely liquefy and meld into one color. Carefully remove from oven and cool for about 30 minutes. When they are completely cool, remove crayons. They should pop out easily when you tap the cans with a knife. If you used the muffin tin, remove them from the tin and peel off the foil.
**See how many different shapes you can cut out of one piece of paper.
**Make Slimy Gunk – Mix equal parts cornstarch and water. If desired, add color. Have fun squishing it and watching it “melt”. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator. This can be messy, so cover your table or floor before you begin. TIP: Dilute greatly before it is flushed or washed down the drain.
**Make Peanut Butter Play Dough – Mix together 1 cup creamy peanut butter, ½ cup light corn syrup and ½ tablespoon vanilla. Gradually add 1 ¼ cup powdered sugar. Store covered at room temperature.
**Rain painting – After sprinkling a few drops of food coloring onto a plate, put on rain gear and go outside for just a minute, holding the plate in the rain. If you want to, you can use a white crayon to draw designs on the plate before you step outside.
**Snow Spray Paint – Make several pitchers of colored water (six drops of food coloring per container). Choose a variety of “applicators” to take outside (anything with a nozzle will do including a turkey baster and a watering can). Now, paint the snow.
**Make play dough – Mix 1 cup flour, ½ cup salt, ½ teaspoon cream of tarter, 1 cup water and 1 teaspoon vegetable oil in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat until it holds together (keep mixing or it will stick to the bottom of the pan). When the clay is cool enough to touch, knead it on a floured surface, divide it into smaller balls, and add a different shade of food coloring to each ball. Store in an airtight container for weeks.
**Place a smooth board against a chair or couch to create a ramp to roll things down.
**Use masking tape on your floor or carpet to create an indoor roadway for small cars.
**Play indoor baseball with a balloon and an empty gift-wrap roll.
**Drown the penny – Place a paper towel over the water-filled glass. Wrap a rubber band around the top of the glass to hold the paper towel in place. Place the penny on the paper towel in the center of the glass. Take turns poking holes in the paper towel with a sharpened pencil. The game ends when someone drowns the penny by poking the hole that finally makes the penny sink to the bottom of the glass.
**Musical Glasses – Fill drinking glasses with different amounts of water. Lightly tap the glasses with a spoon. Try to play a song or make up your own melody.
**Try drawing a picture by holding a crayon with a clothespin instead of in your hand.
**Funny face – Look for pictures of faces in old magazines. Cut out as many eyes, noses, mouths, ears, and heads of hair as you can find. Mix them up and piece together a funny face then glue it onto a piece of paper.
**What’s for dinner? – Cut pictures of your favorite foods from old magazines. Glue them onto a paper plate.
**Make binoculars by taping two toilet paper rolls together (or a paper towel roll cut in half). Decorate them.
**Make a necklace by stringing macaroni noodles on a string. You can dye pasta by mixing ½ cup rubbing alcohol and food coloring in a bowl. Add small amounts of pasta to the liquid and gently mix. The larger the pasta, the longer it will take to absorb the color. Dry on newspapers covered with wax paper.
**Cut out a paper doll chain. Draw and color the clothes on each doll.
**Make homemade face paint. In a bowl, mix together 1 teaspoon corn starch and ½ teaspoon cold cream until well blended. Add ½ teaspoon water and stir. Add food coloring, one drop at a time until you get the desired color. Using a small paintbrush, paint designs on face. Remove with soap and water.
**Living Room Islands – Put pillows on the carpet for pretend islands. Imagine the carpet is the ocean. Jump from island to island without falling in the water."

Ok this is the third post today and my head is still buzzing with ideas...

Sarra, look at this scrumptious recipe for home made marshmallows...for the recipe go to http://smittenkitchen.com/

The world is my oyster...there is so much out there that is interesting! I feel the need to share, as do a squillion other bloggers out there. Hey, does that rhyme?

I wish I owned Pizza Shop so I could use this fancy pancy pizza box!

Etsy Love

Oh my goodness, this is so cute. Etsy is pure love on a stick. The site is downhomeamy.

Here is the description:

reusable cloth pouch
for snacks and goodies.

this is my smaller size snack pouch
works well for the little ones.
made of cotton and lined with waterproof nylon.
velcro closure at top and silk-screened print
on the outside.
i have the bunny print and chubby bird print available
please specify which design you would like
(in the notes to seller box) when checking out
size: approx. 3 1/5" x 5 1/2"
machine wash cold, hang to dry
or just shake out crumbs or wash
by hand when necessary.

A Funny Story...

...lifted from another blog site, but as I laughed out loud, so I thought you might too.

Mystery Solved

Last night the ear doctor took me out to the movies. As we sat and waited for the flick to start I looked around and was kind of surprised by the demographics of my fellow movie-goers. The movie we were seeing was a certifiable chick flick and it started at 9:15 pm. I expected to see mostly couples in the audience.

About 5 chairs away from us on the same row was a dad and his teenage son. They were both enjoying slurpees and texting away. Kind of a strange movie choice for a father/son outing, but, who am I to judge.

3 rows behind us and to the left were a couple of guys. I would understand if they were there on a date, but they way they acted toward each other they were deeply in the closet or straight as can be. What would 2 straight teenage boys be doing at a chick flick on a Thursday night? It baffled me.

Then, there was the predictable gaggle of teenage girls all sitting together way at the top of the theater. This group I understood. This group gave be deja vu a bit.

Just before the lights went down the gaggle let out their siren call. Loud, unstoppable, giggles. Probably quite similar to the sound I myself made upon seeing Leonardo Di Caprio's (I'm not sure if that's how you spell his name, but I'm too lazy to look it up right now) moody face in Romeo and Juliet. As I rolled my eyes, gripped my fingers and prepared myself for 2 hours of that annoying cackle, the boys from behind me called out, "hey, what grade are you girls in?"

Straight teenage boy attendance explained.

But then, before the guffawing girls had a chance to answer, the middle-aged man piped up and said, "one of them is my daughter"

I've never seen to scraggly headed boys whip around and sit up straight faster in my life. Their Volcom brims practically launched off their heads with the shear force of the twist.

My Identity Crisis

Please be patient, or actually please be vocal, while I find the perfect blog background...I am a creature of both variety and research, so until it's perfect, expect to see some tweaks:-) I am loving this one though...it's yellow and there are birdies....

BTW I ordered my yoga love nest today...'B' was the clear winner and was my leaning in the first place. Now that I'm decked out, if I could just make some progress beyond Perpetual Beginner.

Make Up by Tiffanyd

I enjoy watching Tiffany's tutorials on make up application - she is easy to listen to (she does funny, cute bloopers etc.), and she provides really good information along with step by step how-tos. I've learned a ton watching these vids on YouTube, or you can see some of them on her blog (makeupbytiffanyd.blogspot.com).

Below I've included the links to two of her videos, one on a natural eye make-up look, and one on applying eye liner. They take about 10 min. There are close to 100 to choose from - any of the ones I have have seen are really good. Enjoy:-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8waWEHKFaRc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSc9r4tzWyk

Yoga Mat Love Nest

A.
B.
C.
D.

I found these roomy yoga mat totes on Etsy.com. They are all beautiful, however, I am having a difficult time deciding which one to order! They can be found at XcessRize Designs. If you have been in my truck lately, you know that my yoga mat is being abused as it is shoved hither and thither, rolled and unrolled, to and fro in the back seat. This is the perfect home for it. Vote fast b/c I want to order it soon:-)

Can You Believe This?

In quotes below, find an excerpt from a Russian newspaper as re-printed verbatim from the Glen Beck email newsletter today. My thoughts....the rest of the world is watching...why are we as a nation accepting these changes (remember 'Change we can believe in'?) that compromise the foundation of our nation as set forth by the founding fathers? I feel like the people of America didn't do the work of studying the issues that were at stake during the 2008 election; instead many, many people, voted for panache rather than for sound governing principles. I know there are many socially liberal people out there that put social issues above everything else, but we needed fiscally conservative leaders now...it's like when your basic needs aren't met, you are less touchy feely...people are without jobs, and homes etc. We could have left the social change for another day. I am not excusing mistakes made by Pres. Bush or Pres. Clinton for that matter...but I am railing against expansive shifts in the foundation of our society, economy, and culture. Here is the clip: 'So this weekend I'm (Beck) reading an article out of Pravda, an editorial, American Capitalism Gone With a Whimper, and it has so much in it. They are warning us against Marxism and saying that it is coming at a breathtaking speed here in America. The article continues, "So it's no surprise that the American president is followed up with his bold move of declaring that he and another group of unelected chosen stooges will now redesign the entire automotive industry and will even be the guarantee of automotive policies. I'm sure that if given a chance, they would happily try to redesign for the whole world. Prime minister Putin less than two months ago warned Obama and the U.K.'s Blair not to follow the path to Marxism; it only leads to disaster. Apparently even though we suffered 70 years of this Western‑sponsored horror show, we know nothing, as foolish drunken Russians. So let our wise Anglo‑Saxon fools find the folly of their own pride. But again the American public has taken this with barely a whimper, but a free man whimper. So it shouldn't be any surprise to discover that the Democratic congress of America is working on regulation that would give the American treasury department the power to set fair minimum salaries, evaluate performance and control how private businesses give out pay raises and bonuses. Barney Frank stresses that this only affects the companies that receive government monies. But it is retroactive. And taken to a logical extreme, this would include any company or industry that has ever received a tax break or incentive. The Russian owners of American companies ‑‑ listen carefully, America. The Russian owners of American companies and industries should look thoughtfully at what is happening in America and look at the option of closing their facilities down and fleeing the land of the Red as fast as possible. In other words, divest while there is still value left. The proud American will go down into his slavery without a fight, beating his chest and proclaiming to the world how free he really is. And the world will only snicker.

More Toes...How To

Procedure 1

• Apply base coat and color
• Apply one gemstone on each corner of the toe nails
• Apply top coat

Completed Toe Nail Design 1

Procedure 2

If your back is still in good shape, lets try this design too:

• Put 5 more gem stones around the stone you put before (only on the big toe)
• You will now be the queen of the beach

Completed Toe Nail Design 2

Directions taken from createmagicalnails.com

Toes

This weekend, while visiting Sarra's family, we did 'polish' as Jane says. Jane applied the sparkles and jewels on my 2 big toes (with a little help from Charlie), and I thought, why haven't I ever done this before? It's so cute (I should include a photo here of Jane's work) and I have included photos I found online...from a website called createmagicalnails.com. I think you may be be inspired to embellish YOUR toes.

We did a lot of other activities that are more story worthy than my toes...stay tuned.