happy christmas & merry new year

 happy christmas from the schlarecki's. (that is what big a calls us) its been a crazy month trying to get ready for christmas at this house.  i am not all matchy & theme oriented when it comes to christmas decorating, but for some reason i have a thing will all our stocking having to look at least coordinated.  so while they are all a different quilt block pattern, they all have matching fabrics.   it was fun picking out all the different blocks.  maybe after christmas i will have time to get to t's.  we almost need a bigger banister to get them all hung.  but as little a put it-we have a big family and we love it!

each year when i get new nephews or nieces i make them a 1st christmas ornament along with the one that everyone else get.  this time i had to make 3 (lucky mom got 3 in 1 year) and yes i know i am missing 1, but i screwed up on stamping the tags and figured it was better to make sure that my new nieces got theirs at christmas.  

and these are the ornaments for the year.  it was fun thinking of christmas/winter words.  but i needed more vowels!

has frozen taken over?????

if you have at least one girl in your house under the age of say 8, chances are all you hear about is elsa & anna.  thankfully of the 5 girls in our house-i am too old to go crazy, so is the 19 year old, the 5 year old is more into am girls and the baby has no clue!!!  so that leaves the 3 year old.  she has decided she is elsa - has powers and needs gloves, and can 'froze' everything (should it need to be)
of course she had to be else for halloween.  the crown that came with the costume? crap plastic, that actually broke 5 minutes after being out of the bag.  granted i could have just gotten out my glue gun to fix it, but this momma knew better.  that thing would be played with!  i scoured the internet for a better solution and came up with this.  metal head bands with glittery canvas and a pretty jewel glued to it.  and i was right, they are worn a lot.  (i made 4 so that i could make sure 1 was still nice for halloween)  i should still make a pink one for the 19 year old princess, but that is a project for another day.

hose holder posts

i am SOOOOOO excited about this project.  a person wouldn't think that with a new house and underground sprinklers that i wouldn't need to have lots of garden hoses laying around.  wrong!!!  SO many trees to water.  boy was i ever pumped when i saw this idea on pinterest from this cool blog http://www.shanty-2-chic.com/2013/06/hose-holder-for-the-garden-diy.html
i did 2 versions though-a pretty holder and copper top for up by the house and the plain jane holders and tops for out by the water hydrant/garden.  glad i could talk my hubby into digging the holes for me, cause i think that was the longest part of the project.  he did an awesome job too, rigged up a brace so that the 3 by the water hydrant were all equally spaced and the same height.  i did buy the tops for those also.  and its the perfect spot for my rain gauge!

baby shower gift

a friend from work is due in october, and boy will we miss her.  but i thought it was cool that they chose not to find out what they are having (one of the few-we didnt with z & p, but did with e & t) so i made her up a cute set of burp cloths, a blanket, bib and a crib sheet.  cant wait to meet the new little one.

monster tooth fairy pillows

so for those of you that know me well, know that i was slow with teeth. slow to get my 1st (i am told i was close to a year old) slow at loosing my 1st (that was in 1st grade) and loosing my last (i was a freshman in high school).  so no surprise, my kids have all been pretty slow with their teeth as well.  z just lost his 1st tooth this year as a 2nd grader. and it was no ordinary 'loose your tooth'-he had to have it pulled as the permanent tooth was coming in behind a NOT loose baby tooth.  and about 3 weeks later p had aaron pull her 1st loose tooth as a kindergartner.  so i don't know why it took me SO long to get these done for the kids (other than the fact that i recently stumbled upon them on pinterest-thanks b) but it did and they weren't done for our family's 1st tooth fairy visit (or the 2nd one either).  i made the pattern fro them looking at different pictures of monsters i had found on pinterest and after i got z's done decided it looked a bit off.  so i made my adjustments and finished two for the girls.  kids all love them and have to sleep with them (even though there are no loose teeth) and i should have a good 4 years to get the last one done for t!

                    just in case you are wondering
                     our tooth fairy leaves a $2 bill

kids decor

z & p have moved downstairs and like their new rooms.  while i was on maternity leave i got creative with some paint in each room.  i couldn't decide at what height to do the line in z's room so i drew both, then decided it was pretty cool that way.  his 'theme' is maps, so i got places of where aaron & i have either lived or been to and we hung an old school map on one wall.  p wanted polka dots, so away i went with the string and chalk.  i still need to get her chalk board and an art board made & hung up for her.  then z, p, and e each got to paint a picture for their rooms (well the girls got to do 2 as they seem to like painting more) z did a lake with people swimming, sharks, and airplanes (1 might be a helicopter-i don't remember) p did houses and e-well she had fun with her 2 canvas'.

happy baby shower lil' j

we had my sister's baby shower at our house over the weekend.  while its nice to have a reason to 'really' clean the house, it kinda sucks actually doing all the work.  anyway, thought i would show some of the decor that we had for lil' j.  my wonderful sister in law made these great felt and button flowers.  we mixed them with fresh flowers in old mason jars with buttons in the bottom.  they were so cute and my girls got to keep some.  i got the BIG buttons from cold creek brewing on etsy.  i did a dry brush technique to antique them a bit.  not sure where my sister in law got the 'cute as a button' banner, some where off etsy though.  and we then hung up onesies in the back.  it was a great day with lots of good brunch food and lil' j got lots of good stuff.

red, white and blue

life seems to be getting in the way of my crafting.... but i wanted to show you something i had started on last year and finished up in time to hang for memorial weekend.  stinks that it's a's favorite holiday (well the 4th really) and there just isnt much for red, white & blue decor.  i'll have to work on that from all my pinterest finds!

its done!!!! (well kind of)

we are FINALLY done with the basement (90% anyway-need to finish plumbing) and this is the craft room.  i LOVE all the counter space and drawers!  i am still in the process of getting stuff put away.  needing a big shelf to go in the corner for all my big totes.  its been fun putting stuff away knowing that this is finally 'home' for my craft supplies.  then i'll do some decorating on the walls (have to have a chalk board to messages and to do's) and stain and finish my cool antique door!

i heart my aunt

my sister recently let us know she is expecting in september!!!  i am SO excited!  1st niece or nephew for me from one of my siblings.  so of course i had to make her a bib for the baby.  

cant wait for the arrival of baby j!

zizzle zoo

i have had the idea to make these guys (or some like them) for a real long time.  i had a friend send me a prinerest-she said she just thought of me when she saw it.  i dont quite believe that.  but it was just the push to get me to make these guys finally. arent they cute???  i have plans to make a fox/puppy/kitty pattern too.  they are cotton on the front, soft minky on the back, the ribbons kids love and some crinkle material inside for noise.  

p's artwork

almost everyday i get 3 or more pictures from p that she colors/draws/ creates at school.  and what to do with all this beautiful art?  she likes to hang it in her room.  when she moves down stairs we'll make her some art boards for her room.  and i have taken to scanning each one so that i dont have to save them all.  i cant imagine how many boxes i would have full of art work.  at the end of the year, i'll make a shutterfly book for her to have.

new craft room & a little break

 craft room              as it is now

where it will be soon

most of you know that we are expecting baby #4 the end of march (cant wait) and with that came the need/decision to finish the basement since there are only 3 kid bedrooms upstairs.  SO that meant that everything had to come up out of the basement and be moved temporarily to the garage or in my craft room's case-out to the sun room.  it hasnt been that bad, but man is it cold out there!  i am super excited to have the whole basement done, but more so for my room down there.  't' shaped counter for cutting, sewing, and whatever else.  permanent storage for all my stuff, room for the kids to have their own area for creating too.  

this also means that i'll be taking a short break from craft shows this spring.  i'll still be taking custom 

orders -be patient with me though.  when i come back in the fall i'll have a big inventory built up and maybe even a new item.

i'll keep you up to date on the progress of the craft room and basement.

the calm after christmas

christmas is officially over in our house, and unfortunately i have come down with the flu.  but i wanted to share with everyone the ornaments that i made for the year.  stamped spoons.  they were fun & loud to make.  hope everyone had a great christmas & a happy new year.