Etsy and Blog

Hello all my followers. :) Just wanted to let you know that my sister in law and I have started an Etsy store and a blog together. Here are links to both. I'm not sure if I will keep blogging on here or just on the other blog, but I will keep you posted.

www.scrappylove.blogspot.com
www.etsy/shop/scrappyloveshop

Hope you all have a great day!!!!

Christmas Gift

I was inspired to make this when I saw it on Pinterest and then again at a local antique/craft store. They only thing I had to buy was the clothespins. There were boards in our garage when we moved in and all the extra pain in the basement. All I did was wash the board then sand it a bit to give it a distressed look. Then I painted the clothespins and the word Grandkids on the board. After it dried I sanded it a bit again to give it an older look. Then I hot glued the pins to the board. Done! Simple and easy!

If you need an idea for next year or even just an anytime gift this is a quick project and the grandparents love it!

Left Overs

I mentioned the other day that I did my first ever craft fair last week with my sister in law over in WI. We had NO idea how it was going to go, but left excited about a future in crafts and an Etsy store! We sold out of almost everything we made except for a few items. I decided to post them on here in case anyone is interested. What is not sold will be going into our Etsy shop once we get that up and running. Get in touch with me if you are interested in any of the items! 

Baby Girl Hat - $8 

Toddler Hat - $10 

Baby Hat - $8

Baby Hat - $8 

Baby Hat -$8 

Adult Men's Hat - $15 

Stuffed Whale - $5

Set of Christmas Ornaments - $5

Christmas Stocking - $12

Christmas Stocking -$12

Baby/Toddler Girl Headbands - $4 each

*If anything needs to be shipped then I will add $5 to cover the shipping costs. 

The 12 Dates of Christmas

I got this idea from my friend's blog, honeysuckle.blogspot.com, and decided to do my own version. I simply wrote out 12 "dates"  for Kurt and I to do together. Some of them include the kids. I'm sure next year I will do an Advent Calendar with the kids which will probably include a lot of these "dates" plus more.

To mkae:
I already had green card stock so I just wrote out the dates, put a whole punch in them, and hung them with ribbon or strips of material on yarn over my kitchen sink. We'll pick one to do every few days. We start tonight with...Watch the Christmas Hallmark movie and drink hot chocolate!

Other "dates"
Go downtown to see the lights and get Waterstreet coffee
Shop for the kids stockings
Make bread and deliver to neighbors
Address christmas cards
Make cookies
Try a new restaurant
Watch Elf
Breakfast in Bed

Family Photos

We went to WI this weekend for a visit and to do my very first ever craft fair with my sister in law! I see an Etsy shop and more fairs in our near future! We had a blast and got to sell things we created and love! 

I also got to take my brother's family pictures. It was one of those sessions that was quick but every picture was great! It was hard to pick favorites! Here's a little sample of them. Hopefully soon I was start doing photo sessions again. I'm feeling settled in MI and am excited to start doing photography again. 

Extra $

I have been thinking of some extra ways to bring in a little money recently...

My mother-in-law came for a visit this week bringing with her a Christmas stocking pattern. I didn't have stockings for the twins yet, so we headed out to our local fabric store and purchased some fabric to make these adorable stocking. Mae's on the left and Luke's on the right. I also made another one for a gift, but can't post it on here. (it's a surprise)

This got me thinking...I could sell these to make some money! Well, not these ones exactly, but I can make more. So, if you want to put in an order in time for Christmas, get in touch with me. I'm selling them for $20 + $5 if I have to ship it to you.

Can you believe Christmas is already coming up!

Exterior Update

Kurt's parents came for a visit a few weeks ago and we happened to mention that we were thinking about painting a portion of the exterior. It would require painting a part on the garage, side of the house, and front. Their response was, "let's do it tomorrow!" So, we picked a color and got to work the following morning. I didn't think the house needed any changes but thought it was just kindof boring. There was nothing that really popped. The colors were too similar. Nothing a little paint, OK, a lot of paint, couldn't change.

Let me finish by saying that I don't think there is really anything "cute" about the exterior (I really love the interior) of our house. I prefer a cottage/bungalow style with a front porch. Something that is a little more quaint and welcoming. I do however, LOVE that it is our house, our first house, and that we can make changes for it to be a bit more "us".  I think that changing the landscape is going to do a lot and give the house some more color and warmth. More updated pictures when that happens.

So, here you go!

Before

After!

What we changed:
-anything that was green, we painted gray
-hung the American Flag
-spray painted the house numbers and mail box black
-spray painted the door hardware (that doesn't work) black to match
-painted the front and side door white
-installed a new storm door
-hung a new light over the front door
-power washed the exterior

Still needs to be done:
-landscaping by the house
-remove old basketball backboard on garage and replace with new

*Thanks to my in-laws for the motivation and help! It would have taken us months to accomplish what we did!