Gotta Do What'cha Gotta Do

So today I had grandiose plans of posting two cute table setting for a coffe and tea time and linking to Tablescapes Thursday. But wouldn't you know, life got in the way yesterday and again today! What was it thinking? Work, slepping, geting home late and appointments keeping me from all of you on bloggie land - the nerve!

At first, I was super disappointed in myself for not getting it ready. Then I looked back over yesterday (when I usually get photos and thoughts gathered for a post) and today (when I out it all together) and realized that I was overly tired, had a genuinely busy day and at the end of it all.....

You Gotta Do What'cha Gotta Do!

And yesterday, I had to rest. Spend a few moments with hubby talking about our day before we drifted off into sweet dreams. I needed to eat a healthy meal.There were projects to finish. Today was worse! I'm just getting home and have not a single dish clean, nothing in the fridge for dinner, and the roof is caving in on me! (ok not really... that's all a bit more dramatic than it really is, but you get the picture right?)

So here is my conclusion after all this rambling:
1. It's ok to let something go and do it later. "too Blessed to Stress" is just that - not letting the stress of everyday affect our joy, love and hospitality as women, mothers, wives, daughters. It's learning to focus on the positive despite the junk thats going on around us.
2. I'm a week ahead on my tablescape posts! Next Thursday, be sure to stop by and see a charming and romantic setting for you and that secial someone (hubby, kiddo, neighbor, family, member friend) in your life.
3. I now have more time to post about the marvelous findings from the thrift store and my latest transformation project. It's a .... cuter than life footstool that needs some a LOT of TLC. And I can't wait till it's done to show you all!
4. And lastly, I can finalize all the details for my first giveaway ever!!!!!! yippie!!!! (yes, that's a lot of exclamation marks... but I'm so excited !!!!) I'll give you a hint: become a follower. It will increase your chances of winning. And tell you friends to come on over and follow too... the more people, the more times everyones name will go in the drawing.

What things are you having to say "no" to today so that you don't miss out on life's special moments now? Would you be willing to share in the commments below? As always, I love hearing from you all!

Photos from top to bottom: our sweet pup sleeping with her moose, valentines decoration in my home, sign I repurposed - check out the post here.

Fancy-Schmancy

Do you drool over those fancy-schmancy storage solutions for your craft items every time you are at the store? Do you secretly wish that you could have at least one of each cooler-than-life pencil cup, ribbon holder, drawer organizer, and table-top-tray-thingie that divides your little doo-dads into separate compartments?

Yeah, me too.

But let's get real. I don't have room in the budget for a matching set of Martha Stewart containers and boxes.

Small, cuter than life hat box keeps my fabric baggies ready for use and ready to take on the go with me.

This wide heart shaped basket is great when I need to sift through many items with only one hand.

I do, however, need to keep the crafting items neat, accessible, and contained in a practical way. My solution? Hit the Goodwill, or the "Boutique" as we fancy people like to call it.

This I use all the time to separate differnt elements of a project until I'm ready for them. It always sits right in front of me as I work.

Take a look at all the cute containers, trays, and dividers I found. (And this isn't even all of them!)

Two deep dishes separate korker ribbon by size.

Isn't this little guy sweet? It holds all the sparkly embelishments for all kinds of projects.

Turns out, I actually like my solution better than the matchy set... and No, I am not just saying that to console myself. It is really quite rewarding to find simple solutions that are lovely at the same time.

The large, shallow shape of this iron basket is perfect for catching larger items that I need to grab while crafting.

These are great at a show or open house. Use them to separate people's orders while they shop, rest a hot glue gun on, keep sticky things away from the table cloth, etc. etc. I have several and use them all the time.

This beauty was origionally from Big Lots. It was brand new and still had the tag on it - $2.99. Not bad. But 20 cents at the thrift store is even better!

How do you keep the craft clutter at bay? Any tips or original ideas you could share?

Side Note: Yes, I know that the red valentines cloth does not match the pastel colors of my containers. But I was half way through taking the photos before I realized it, and am too tired to redo them. Either think of it as really super, fabulous, edgy color mixing.... or try to look past it. If I were you, I would go with option two.

This post is linked to Works for Me Wednesday. Head on over and see what other crafty ladies are doing!

Share the Love - Take 2

Seriousely... I have an illness.

It is called, Compulsive Crafting.

As with the Basket-a-holics support group (here), I need a Craft-addict circle too. Why? After saying earlier today that I didn't need to make any more Valentines decor, I decided to add a few more homemade hearts to the entryway.

This was the inspiration:

Paper hearts by Stephanie from "Under the Table and Dreaming."

She has the best tutorial, so I will let you head over there and follow her direction. But I will show you how I altered the design a bit, since I didn't have a book I wanted to recycle.

It's ok... go on over...

I'll wait {{singing Jeopardy song quietly}}

You back? Ok here we go!

Like I said, I didn't want to recycle any of the books on hand, and I really didn't want to work with messy news paper. So I made my own strips of words to cut up and paste into hearts.

I chose to repeat the word Love (didn't see that one coming, did ya? :) in a diferent font every two lines.

After printing on plain old printer paper (I used only one sheet), I cut them into strips using my scrapbooking paper cutter.

If you don't have a paper cutter of any sort, freehand with scissors, or even use scalloped scissors to hide any imperfections in cutting.

I then sat on the living room floor with the pup to glue and press, glue and press till I had all these fun different hearts.

To get different sizes, I cut some strips in half, some into thrids, and left some whole.

Just eyeball it. No need for super accurate hearts.

Love comes in many shapes!

Since I didn't have a jar candle to fit inside another big jar, I shopped the house till I found this beauty -  a mason jar full of glittery strawberry ornaments. I took out four of the six berries, dropped in a few hearts, added a berry, more hearts, so on so forth till the jar was full.

Isn't it just so appropriate that "101 Love Songs" came on the Media Player as I was writing this post.... ahhh love, sweet love!

I am in love with the crisp white hearts, and sparkly berries in a farm fresh jar. Just the pick-me-up I needed for a Tuesday.

Are you crafting today? How are you adding more touches of love to your home? Please share in the coments below... I would love to see what inspiring ideas you have!

This post is linked to Today's Creative Blog. Take a minute and check out what other creative ladies are crafting today!

Share the Love

Yesterday I had a problem.

I felt the urge to craft something Valentine-ish. Why is that a problem?

1. There's really no need of buying anything else for Valentines in the way of decorations. My home is already decorated far Velentines. (although I am not opposed to receiving it as a gift... ahem, hubby)
2. If I was going to make something, I didn't want to spend a penny on it. That's hard when a newly discovered craft store is calling your name all day and night.

So what's a girl to do?

Cave into the desire to craft - what else? 

But only within certain perameters:

1. It had to be simple.
2. Not very time consuming.
3. And no money was to be spent. All items had to be things found in the home.

With the rules clear in my mind, I set about the day pondering what to make. And then I remembered this mirror stored away in my linen closet.

I had purchased it some time ago at a Value Village in Oregon. Now I usually dive into my thrifted purchases the moment I get home from the store. But for some reason, this one was tucked away and never used.

See the date on the tag? 6/25/08.

2008!

Seriously, it was time to put this mirror to good use.

The frame was in good shape, but the mirror was all blotchy and stained. I had read somewhere that rubbing alcohol would take off those weird age marks, so I got some soft cotton squares and went to work. A few minutes of polishing, and it was a good as new. (disclaimer -try on an inconspicuous area first before ruining a perfectly good mirror)

Next came the fun part - Chosing how to decorate it! I have seen so many awesome banners around bloggy land and always wanted one. So after much deliberation, I settled on a small banner that spelled out LOVE (original, I know), hung on some cute checkerd ribbon.

After downloading a cute Valentine's font, I printed the letters out on regular printer paper, cut them down,and mounted them on red scrapbook paper punched into 1 1/2 squares. Then I whipped out my trusty glue gun, glued those red squares to the ribbon, tied a knot at both ends, and glued it to the frame. Viola! I love the

result.

Short. Simple. Sweet.

No money out of pocket.

A few minutes out of my day.

A fun new addition to my Valentine's decor.

Did you decorate this year for Valentines?

How about a Valentines Craft - for you, your home, or with your kids? If you did, please share!

This post is linked to ASPL-DIY Day. Don't forget to check out what other money saving, crafting gals are doing today!

Follow Up

As promised in my "Return to Blog-Land" post, I am making good on my New Years blog resolution and following up on projects in the works from last year's posts.

Remember this beauty? Yes, I know it was a long time ago. Reach deep into the memory bank... or click here for a quick refresher. It was a beat up old Welcome sign purchased at a garage sale. After removing the worn vinyl lettering, a light sanding and a few coats of 50 cent Oops-paint, it was ready for some freehand lettering and design.

All I did was download a free font that was swirly and unique, draw a light line to get the letters straight, and then freehand drew the letters lightly with a pencil. I then used paint markers to fill them in. One was regular size and the other was a fine tip. I just love paint markers. I have them in every color I can get my grubby paws on. But that will have to be a post for another day.

(don't know why this picture is so dark...)

The scrolly thing below didn't come out as even as I would have liked... but repainting and waiting to redraw it was just out of the question. Why? I wanted to use it right away. Simple as that. I was too excited to use it in my harvest tablescape. Maybe someday I'll get around to repainting it. But for now, it's imperfectly beautiful!

I'm linking this post up to Cottage Instincts "Make it for Monday," 

Between Naps on the Porch "Metamorphosis Monday," and Making the World Cuter Monday.

Be sure to head on over and check out these lovely blogs!

Photos from top to bottom: old welcome sign pre-transformation, the finished result, & the harvest display in our home from Fall 2009. (And yes that is a bunch of junk next to the table. Please avert your eyes. )

Simply Saturday

My oh my, Spring is here!!!! OK, so not really... but today sure felt like it. Today is a glimpse of the sunny months to come. And it got me all worked up with ideas and excitment for Spring and Summer outings, garage sales, parties, gardening, and backyard fun.

I can see it all now:

Tomato plants ripe with Grape, Yellow Pear, and Big Beauty (I think that last one is right) tomatos ready to be tossed into salad, tacos, stew, etc. We just love being able to walk into the backyard and pick what we need. Plus the pup has developed a taste for the fallen tomatoes. Go figure?

Exploring local parks and heading to the farmers market. Keeping a photo log of all the gorgeous sights we see on our adventures around town.

Hosting birthdays, tea parties, get togethers and the occasional bar-b-q. Taking the "fancy" dishes and serving trays from the dining room and useing them in the amazing outdoors.

Roasting hot dogs and making s'mores while sitting around the fire pit my hubby built. We have shared some great times with friends and family around this fire pit. There's just something so inviting and relaxing about sitting around a fire.

We all let our guard down.

We relax.

We share.

Memories are made.

What traditions, moments, or events are you looking forward to? Do you enjoy the outdoors?

Photos from top to bottom: rose from our garden, almost ripe tomatoes in the back yard, local park, Hubbster lighting the candles for me on at a windy afternoon get together, our fire pit and another rose from the flower bed.

The Return To Blog-Land

OK. I admit it... My blogging dreams didn't take off as well as I had planned.

I let my bronchitis get the best of me.

Then life got in the way of blogging bliss.

I felt like frosty here.... all melty, mushy, and with no energy to go on.

And when it came down to it, I had to let the blog to while I made some changes and decisions.

Things like taking on another job...

Learning to say "No. I'm sorry, but I can't take more on right now..."

Hubby working on a new project, and us never getting to see each other for more than a few minutes....

Working on "Sweet Joy" - fun, girlie boutique items I sell...

Whether to drink diet or regular Coke....

Where to place my new thrift store finds....

You get the idea... crucial things. :)




Here I am. Round two. Well really it is a continuation of Round One, since I never gave up the idea of my blog, my passion for homemaking, and my love of sharing life with blogging sisters.

So here are my New Year resolutions for "too Blessed to Stress." Ready?

1. All the fantastic items I thrifted and shared my great plans for? I will finally follow through and show you what became of them.

2. The photo project from this post will be revealed.

3. Regular posts. Keep me accountable! It is not only fun for me to share with you, but I love your input and ideas. I want to learn from all you fantastic gals out there as we live life together and conquer the mundane, everyday ho-hums.




So will you forgive me for being gone for so long? You will? awww.... shucks. {{shy grin}}

Meet me back here for great thrifted finds, repurposed items, party planning ideas, and hospitality hints.

Let's remember what it truly means to be "to Blessed to Stress."

Photos from top to bottom: Melted Frosty from a Christmas craft show years ago, "Tinto" or Espresso cups from my mother at Christmas (I'll have to post about "Tinto" another day... yummy!), sweet sign given to me by a dear friend and her daughter for my birthday.