Changes :)

So, every New Years I normally make maybe one resolution, but never really put much weight on it. This year I have goals to make some changes that will make me happier and since you are my bloggy buddies, I'm sharing with you!

1. Eat smaller portions
2. Drink less soda and eat less sugar
3. Don't skip meals

1. Write a blog post at least once a week
2. Make time to craft at least once a week
3. Further research shipping prices and post office services
   

1. Grade papers weekly so that I don't have a mountain at report card time!
2. Create classroom jobs
3. Continue to seek out professional growth opportunities

1. Get done the things I've procrastinated or just not even attempted to do!

Hope you've had a wonderful holiday and now a great start to the new year! I will be grading papers and doing report card type things!

~Amy~

DinoRoom!

A little over two years ago now I painted my friend's nursery for her first baby. It was the first time I'd ever done anything like it and it took me almost three full weeks to finish!

Well, my friend had her second baby at 27 weeks in September. Her first son just turned one in July so she needed some quick help to set up a new bedroom for him so her new baby boy could come home to the rainforest nursery. She went with a dinosaur theme and I was able to get it drawn and finished in just three days!!! Good thing too because we finished on a Sunday and her baby got to come home that following Wednesday!!! We had no idea at the time that he would get to come home after being in the NICU for just over two months! But he and his family are doing great and his big brother was loving our dinosaurs!

Papasaurus is the big bronto (cuz dad is TALL)

Mamasaurus

Seanasaurus

Zachasaurus

:) Hope you enjoyed! I really have been crafty! I'm just a lazy uploader and HATE my camera!

Happy Holidays!

A Few of My Favorite Things: Part 1

So... I thought I would share with you some of my fave new beauty finds.

First off... HI! I'm Miss Greaseball Face could use my T zone as a mirror.
I swore by Mary Kay medium coverage foundation ($14) until my money got really tight and my oily face started eating the foundation alive!!!

Here's my new faves (for half the price!) AND for a coverage that lasts all day with NO SHINE! Hear me???? NO SHINE!!!

Rimmel London Stay Matte Foundation (somewhere around $6 a pop and if Mary Kay is a 10/10 coverage, this is a 9/10)

Rimmel London Stay Matte Powder (also close to $6 a pop I believe)

The Falsies Mascara (somewhere around $6... noticing a trend here)

Deep Clean Long Last Shine Control Cleanser/Mask (closer to the $7 mark)

Twinkle and Shine eyeliner from Avon ($3.49, this comes in silver and gold... silver is actual glitter in a clear liner... gold is just a metallic shimmer liner with no glitter... def. prefer the silver)
I'm still in love with my Mary Kay Nourishine Lip Glosses... but I have a major issues with owning too many lip glosses, lipsticks, chapsticks, etc. What are your favorites?

Reason #10,980,293 to NOT Grow Up

I found my first WHITE hair!!!

(Believe me, I then proceeded to flip out and check the rest of my head as if I had lice in total OCD fashion.)

There are so many other colors I would prefer to have...

Letters to my Dog... #1

Dear Charlie,

I feel guilty leaving for work in the morning with you staring out the window, especially since the neighbors and family tell me that they see you when they drive by at other times throughout the day. However, I then open the door and find the front room covered with many things I will not mention to you getting in to and realize you were very busy away from the window at some point. I just vacuumed the carpet at an attempt of housekeeping, you however disagree with the keeping of the cleanliness part though.

Love you always anyway,
Your puppy mama

Etsy Ponderings...

I spent $12 today on a yard each of 6 different colors of satin... I've been bitten by the singed flower bug... and I'm overflowing with ideas! I really want to start an Etsy shop to sell what I make (especially with 6 yards of satin to work with), but I'm nervous about the paypal/etsy costs and more than anything the shipping. I have no idea what shipping costs and I'm nowhere near a post office, plus with work post offices are all closed by the time I get out. I've heard there's a post office with an electronic shipping thing at the post office... I may have to go check that out. My first and last giveaway I tried to ship things and ended up with broken pieces back... still working on that one.

Anyway, what are your thoughts? Do you currently or have you ever had an etsy shop? Thoughts on paypal? I know they each take a percentage- is it still worth it? Just wondering...

Thanks to all!

P.S. laptop had blue screen of death for six hours- I've been flipping and stressing trying to fix it... I'm hoping I fixed it and this isn't just a fluke!

Come on Fall Break!

Possibilities

The more faith you have,
The more you believe,
The more goals you set,
The more you'll achieve...
So reach for the stars,
Pick a mountain to climb,
Dare to think big,
And give yourself time...
And, remember no matter
How futile things seem,
With faith, there is no
Impossible dream!
-Alice Joyce Davidson

One day til two week fall break... so excited to craft and blog! Do you know what $10 can buy you at a Flea Market? $2 glass cheese dome with wood base $1 wood wine box filled with corks $2 ruffly skirt $3 book from 1845 with handwritten momentos in it from the owner $1 poetry book $1 Etiquette book from 1943 Okay... well the skirt came from Goodwill... but STILL! I was SUCH a happy shopper that day with my cart of goodies! Can't wait to share more- and pictures!

Love~
Amy Jean

Back to School

Teachers start back tomorrow... goodbye BlogWorld!!! It was a great summer! :)

(I'll still be here, just not as often!)

Weekend Wrap Up Party w/ Tatertots and Jello

Remember the metal tiered thing I referred to? Well, here's the wrinkling I was talking about...

(I failed to take a before picture... let's just say the thing was the old tarnished gold with rust spots! But a $4 deal at my local flea market.)

(This is the part where I got mad and sanded it off for the second time!)

Now... the transformation...

Added a ribbon and an old skeleton key to the top...


Stickers from a scrapbook pad and then covered over with a few coats of Mod Podge...

(I chose the word 'beloved' for the top because that's what Amy means :) )

Okay, so I LOVE words that mean something... so I just started putting them wherever there was missing paint or bubbles/wrinkles...

(I couldn't get the stickers perfectly flat since they were on a curved surface, but I feel like the wrinkling gives character- more so than the wrinkled paint!)

Side 1:

Side 2:

Side 3:

Side 4:

This is my finished project in all it's glory! I'm going to use it to hold my jewelry :)! I'm super happy with the end result, especially considering how frustrated I was with the spray paint!

Go check out everyone else!

Painting Blahs

I've been trying to paint two shelves, a metal tiered thing, and some terra cotta pot saucers and wooden dowel rods. Spray paint and I are not getting along. It keeps running because it's drying uneven and I'm impatient. Then I ran out of the cheap white so I decided I'd just use the good ivory... but it's taking TONS of paint to get an even finish! The metal tiered candy dish thing... well in certain areas the paint is wrinkling up like it's going to crackle! I sanded those spots and wiped them clean and tried repainting and the same thing is happening again! I don't understand!!! :( So for now I'm angry with the spray paint and the metal tiered dish. Anybody know why it's wrinkling? It's stupidness. :(

WWIW: What I Wore Wednesday

Here's how the conversation started:
Me: "MOM! MOM! Look at this mirror! It's only $29.99! I've been looking for one I could afford EVERYWHERE!"
Mom: "What? Why? Where would you even put it?"
Me: "In my room after I rearrange the furniture! I need it so I can do What I Wore Wednesday!"
Mom: "What?"
Me: "On my blog! This lady does it every week and takes pics of what she wore! I want to do it too, but I needed a mirror that was long enough!"
Mom: "Okay then..."

Here it is... The What I Wore Wednesday mirror!

And my dog... with what he wears almost every day (some days he wears his tshirts). I realized I've never had a mirror at his height before... he's a little self occupied.

Thursday
Cami: Lane Bryant
Shirt: Kohl's
Jeans: Vanity Fair @ Edinburgh Outlet Mall (the are plus size Angel brand jeans... I can't find them anywhere now and they are the only brand that fit all over!)
Shoes: Payless
Necklace: Premier Designs

Friday
Shirt: Walmart
Jeans: Fashion Bug
Shoes: Nike
Necklace: Me (kit from Joy Made Jewelry whose blog link I'm having issues with)

Sunday (didn't get dressed Saturday!)
Shirt: Fashion Bug
Jeans: Vanity Fair
Shoes: Nike
Necklace: Premier Designs redesigned by me
Watch: Walmart

Monday (working hard moving into my new classroom)
Shirt: Old School
Jeans: Vanity Fair
Shoes: I believe I don't have any on at this point LOL
Necklace: Lisa Leonard From Up Here (won via a giveaway!)

Tuesday
There's an obvious stomach issue with this shirt...
Shirt: Walmart
Tank: Target
Jeans: Vanity Fair
Shoes: Nike
Necklace: Heart from Walmart, Beaded by Me

Wednesday
Shirt: Disney Store
Tank: Family Dollar
Capris: Fashion Bug
Necklace: Lisa Leonard
Dog Butt: Charlie

Go check out everyone else @ The Pleated Poppy!

Handkerchief to Scarf Tutorial

Here's another awesome flea market find:

$4.99 for four pink Shabby Chic handkerchiefs!

I decided they were screaming: PLEASE! PLEASE! Make us into a beautiful scarf! (Later decided they could have made some awesome curtains, but too late :) )
First: I cut these bad boys in half. I only used three of the four because I wanted one left over in it's original Shabby Chic-ness!

Second: I ironed each one and pressed over a seam of about 1/4 inch on the raw edge that did not have embroidery and had been the center of the handkerchief.

I don't know about you, but I'm a little anti-sew! If there's an easier way- I'm taking it! So I just used some Fabri-Tac to glue down the new seam. If you haven't tried this stuff it's $9.99 a bottle at Joann's and super awesome. I've had mine since high school (nine years ago!).


I ended up not liking the unfinished look and was worried the edge would fray that I had glued down so I bought some frilly ribbon from Hobby Lobby and glued it over the edges with the Fabri-Tac as well. I later realized it was elastic and if I wasn't lazy this could have been a beautiful scrunch scarf.

But, here's my lovely finished product anyway (ignore the mess in the background!)

Linking once again to

Burlap Tray

Alright, I've been redoing (or actually taking the time to DO) my bedroom. I decided I needed a tray for my dresser to sit all of my trinket boxes on and had no luck finding a picture frame that fit my idea. Then it struck me...

These are two wood "screens" (they look like shutters to me) that I picked up at the local flea market for $1.99 each last year. I had planned on just putting them up on the wall as is because I love everything about them, but that never happened and they just sat around neglected.


I suddenly decided one of said screens would make a great tray! So... I whipped out my leftover burlap from my magnet boards and cut myself 8 strips about 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide each that were as long as the screen. Then I wove them through like so, alternating every other row. After I had woven all of the strips through I just used my trusty hot glue gun to secure the ends to the top and bottom of the screen after I pulled them tight.

Finish project:


Beautiful tray to hold my little treasures!

I love it! I want to do it to the other one too, but I'm thinking maybe ribbon and lace? We'll see!

I'm linking up to

Go check everybody out!

LOVE!

Wonderful Words

Sorry for not making good on my necklace posts... I've been hit with some sort of stomach bug. :( I just came across this quote though and really loved it, it's one of the hardest things for me to do in life. I suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and I obsess thoroughly over minute details and decisions in my life. I strive for perfection and always want to wait until that perfect moment, or put things off until I can try to do everything all at once so that I feel like I completed something instead of allowing myself to be human and just do things as they need done instead of putting it off and stressing myself out, and lastly learning to find confidence in myself and not need others to tell me how well I am doing or give me their approval. I was awesome in school because I got grades and feedback about how I was doing and it was just there to follow, now in life I constantly worry about how well I am doing because no one gives you grades in real life. There are no grades for how well you do your job (teaching), how clean you keep your house, how well kept your yard looks, or how kind you are to others. Life doesn't give you the feedback and objectiveness of grades. Even in my medicated state I still worry and obsess on a smaller scale. I'm a straight A honor student living in a world that has stopped grading my performance and it makes me question myself and continues to hinder me from gaining the self confidence I so badly need and have never had. Now that I've given that little rant... here you go:

Begin where you are.

Don't wait for the right moment

or the easy moment.

If it needs to get done,

do it.

where you are.

be better now.

change your life now.

waiting for an assurance of success will only stop you.

begin where you are.

Floral Bib Necklace and Earrings

I found this awesome tutorial from Larissa over at Just Another Day in Paradise for a beautiful floral bib necklace:

Tutorial 1
Tutorial 2

I love it! I didn't have brads that would have worked for this so I used buttons and beads from other leftover projects! I adore it!!!!

I decided I needed some matching earrings...


Found the camera today under the front seat of the car! Tune in tomorrow to see more necklaces that I've created!

LoVe!
~Amy~

Crafts from the Cell Phone Files...

I had this cheapo tv stand made out of particle board I guess, that I bought on clearance at a CVS for like $5 a couple years ago. I found something better for my tv in the bedroom at the flea market, but didn't want to throw this out. So I whipped out the scrapbooking paper and modpodge and here we go. Basically I traced the pieces on the paper, cut out, mod podged, sanded the edges, punched holes to reconnect the pieces, and put on a finish coat. The top I just cut out without drawing and pieced everything together on top. It's in my hallway now... I LOVE it! (The picture frames on top I'll have to take a better pic of... they are pages from the Green Stack set at JoAnn's with chipboard letters that spell out JOY.)


I love Sara over at Sara's Art House... I want her house... badly. My house consists of a red and white kitchen, very pale yellow living room (like lighter than ivory), a periwinkle craft room, purple spare room, and pale pink bedroom. I wanted some BRIGHT, cheery colors! I just slapped this paint on the canvas, realized it doesn't go anywhere in my house, and decided I'll take it to my new classroom! :)

Here's my inspiration: http://sara-mincy.blogspot.com/ (Check out the right sidebar... there's some small pics of hers there!)

Fabric Flower Pins

Tutorial: http://myblondeambitions.blogspot.com/2010/03/fabric-flower-tutorial.html
Note: I used my glue gun instead of sewing and I bought scrapbooking brads from JoAnn's for $2.99 and $3.99 to use in the center (I poked it through and then glued the felt with the pin over the arms).

Dahlia Brooch

Tutorial: http://www.notmartha.org/archives/2010/05/06/mothers-day-felt-dahlia-corsage-a-few-notes/
Note: I used hot glue on all of it and left off the pocket!

Dog Biscuits

Recipe: http://robertapm28.blogspot.com/2010/02/recipe-dog-bone-treats.html
Note: I'll admit it... I taste tested them... and BLECK! The dog loved them though, and so did his doggy friends that we shared with. :)