Christmas Decor And More

Hi all, I hope this finds you rested and ready for a new week.
We've eaten all the leftovers and pulled out all the Christmas decor.
And still managed to sleep late or nap, every day.
A girl's gotta have her priorities.

This year I'm taking time to go through every single decoration we own.
Sure it's slowing my progress but so worth it!
Each item is put into one of three categories...
1. Perfect as is, ready to go... this pile is slim. :)
2. Keeper that needs a little update... sentimental ornaments that will be updated by removing their stale hooks and hanging them with ribbon.
3. Unnecessary or out of date decorations... these are going in the yard sale boxes.

While my ornament sorting is still a work in progress,
the tree was looking lonely.
Andy did his part by putting the bubble lights on.
Bubble lights are my favorite!
Now it was my turn.
Remember this shopping trip to Hob Lob and all the goodies I scored?

Since my out of date tree topper was in the yard sale box.
R.I.P mauve and cream Santa!
It was time to put those supplies to good use.
With a little work I made this...

I'm calling this Seuss inspired crafty creation,
the True Meaning of Christmas Tree Topper.

I love how completely over the top it is.
Fun & colorful!
So tell me, what do you think?
God's blessings on your night, Sarah :D

Ribbon Ornaments

Hi all!
With the tree going up I have ornaments on the brain.
So I thought now was the perfect time to try my hand at these...

Mmhh yes, beautiful!
Since I was without a tutorial I did what any good crafter does,
I made it up as I went. :>
I used the smooth styrofoam balls, flat sequin pins, and tons of ribbon.
I can't lie, this was not a fast project.
Once I got going it took about 2 hours.
If this weren't a gift for my mother-in-law I would have abandoned the project midway.
But it was, so I didn't.
And I'm so glad I stuck with it.
So without further ado I give you my very first ribbon ball. :)

Thanks Rach for introducing me to Shelley's website.
If any of you crafty gals make your own I'd love to see pics!
God's blessings on your day, Sarah :D

Dr. Seuss Christmas Talk

Just got home from the Hob Lob.
That's what Addison calls Hobby Lobby.
I purchased all kinds of Christmas garb.

Oh yeah, I'm feeling a crafty creation, Christmas style coming on!
I promise to share all the fun with you.
I'm picturing a Dr.Seuss style arrangement.
Colorful, fun and totally tacky! :)
I think it will provide me with a great crafty distraction.

Which is good because this is what's sitting in my back yard.

Why?
Why would an old lady dump this dog at the abandoned house across the street??
Why would she ask my kids to watch out for "Lucky"??
There's an old lady some where that deserves a Grinch style Christmas!
So for now "Lucky" is safely residing in my fence.
Until...
Until the old lady comes back
OR
Until I take her to the pound.
Ugh, why???
WHY??!?

I'm going to decorate for Christmas and pretend my boys aren't falling in love with the "Lucky" dog in my back yard!
God's blessings friends, Sarah :D

Silhouette Tiles

Have you seen all the silhouette art out in bloggy land?
They're absolutely gorgeous!
I've been wanting to give them a try but was a little unsure.

Enter my friend Heather.
She's a new nurse who broke her toe right before her first weekend shift.
Broken as in, she had surgery and can't work for 6 weeks!
Yeah you guessed it, with all her spare time she's a new craft addict. :)

The following project is what happens when two crafters get together with a little inspiration and a box of rescued tiles.

Before I arrived Heather had already spray painted our tiles.
They went from a funky orange to creamy white.


Our first task was to cut out pics of our kids.
I faced my boys in opposite directions so they would face each other.
The first time in their life they're face to face without arguing!


Then we traced them onto black card stock.
We debated about whether our boys should have eyelashes.
But because we're girly girls we decided to keep them.
Note: This project will only turn out right if you use a #2 pencil,
hand sharpened with a pocket knife. ;>


We flipped our card stock around so the pencil lines wouldn't show.
That's when it was time for our dear friend Mrs. Modge Podge to join us.


To save you the panic we experienced,
this is the tile after the modge podge.
The lines dry, I promise!


Because no project is complete without ribbon,
I made bows with black wire edged ribbon.


Once we had our bows ready, we hot glued them into place.
I didn't want the boys to fuss about the bows so I chose the outside corners.
Maybe they won't notice??
To top it off we added crystals to the middle of our bows.
SwEeTnEsS!!! :)


Tada...
Here's where they rested once they made it home.



They were so much fun and easy to make.
I absolutely love them!
What's that you say?
You're not very crafty??
Don't worry, my partner in crime thought she wasn't either.
Until she created this...

I told her she did so good that I wasn't going to post her pics. :)
But they were so fabulous I couldn't deprive you.

So do tell, what do you think?
Is this a project you might try to escape the stress of the holidays??
Not that my family would experience stress during the holidays.

God's blessings on your Thanksgiving preparations friends! Sarah :D

Ma'am and Sir

Good morning friends!
Ok, so it's not really morning at 11am.
But since I'm still sipping on coffee we'll go with it.

As you know we're huge Auburn fans,
HUGE AUBURN FANS!
This season, one of our favorite things to watch is Auburn Everyday.
It's a great 30 minute peek into the players and coaches.

So as I was lazily sipping my coffee I heard the following statement,
and I knew it was worthy of a blog post.

First, a little background.
You know we're big on respect here At Home With The Hinsons.
All children under our care for any length of time must say Ma'am and Sir.
It's just a given.

It seems respect is a big deal with Auburn as well.
Here are the words of wisdom from assistant head coach Trooper Taylor's mouth...

"Next time you say YEAH to me,
I'm gonna teach you what I mean by sayin' YES SIR and NO SIR.
Ok?
Ok buddy.
I love you man.
But I ain't having it.
I'm just telling you.
It ain't personal."

Thank you Coach Taylor,
Mama's just added a new line to her arsenal of loving corrections. :)

God's blessings on your day, Sarah :D

Christmas Is Coming

Today my annual purchase of fundraiser wrapping paper was delivered.
And that can only mean one thing...
Christmas is coming,
Christmas is coming!
So to kick the season off right I gathered a few crafty supplies.
Luckily Hobby Lobby had everything on sale.

And this was my quick and easy crafty creation.
I'll call it Sarah's Mini Snow Globes. ;>
You like?!

I promise there'll be lots more to follow.
I LOVE making Christmas ornaments!
God's blessings on your evening, Sarah :D

Good Surprise

Dontcha just love surprises?
No, not the surprise assignment your child forgot to mention.
The good kind.
Like you signed up for a contest,
and totally forgot about it
UNTIL...
you got an email saying
you WON.
Hello good surprise! :)
That's what happened to me and my new fall tassel...
that I LOVE!

Thanks Linda for trying out a new craft and then sending your creation my way.
I think it's absolutely the perfect touch of fall!

For all of you who'd like to try your hand at tassel making,
here's a tutorial worth checking out.
Linda makes it look super easy.
So easy that I'm planning to try my hand at a Christmas version soon.
God's blessings on your evening, Sarah :D

"Cleaning Gets Old" (Katy Perry "Hot N Cold" Parody)

This is too funny. A must see for Mamas! :D

Where Do You Keep Your Jump Ropes?

Hi everyone I hope you're having a beautiful afternoon!
Since we're friends and all I have a question,
where do you keep your jump ropes??
The reason I ask is because until about an hour ago,
mine were in the top drawer of my china cabinet.
Why??
I'm pretty sure I got sick of looking at them one day and just shoved them in the closest drawer.
If you know the Hinson four then you know I'm telling the truth.
We have the most random storage system ( and I use the term system loosely ).
I used to keep my car title in my sock drawer.
Go ahead and laugh, but I never lost it! :)

As we prepare for our upcoming home study I've been cleaning out.
Nothing motivates me to clean like rearranging.
So yesterday morning as my kids were innocently sleeping I did the unthinkable.
I pulled my entire bedroom apart, cleaned it and then put it back together.
Yes, I even woke Joseph up to help me.

Because I'm a blogger at heart, I took pics. ;>
Before (actually during)

After

I haven't completely fixed it yet, but I'll get there!
I really like how the new arrangement makes the room feel more open.

Since I'm running on the high that my bedroom redo gave me, my work continues today.
I'll keep you posted.
And for future reference, the jump ropes are now stored in the garage beside the workout bench.
God's blessings, Sarah :D

Veteran's Day

Hi all!
I hope you've enjoyed a beautiful day,
filled with the many freedoms that our Veteran's have served to protect.

This year with the boys school activities,
I've been especially thoughtful about the meaning of Veteran's day.
Here's a peak into our activities...

This school project had James' illustrate a few things about the United States.
His comment while we worked on it?
Mama, aren't you so glad you have all this scrapbookin' stuff?
Why yes son, I am! ;>


Monday morning I attended James' Veteran day program.
Just seeing all those children so appreciative of the soldiers was enough to make me cry.

James' recognized Op for fighting in the Korean war.
Here's the coin given to honor him.

Here's Nana & James in his classroom after the program. :)


On Tuesday it was Joseph's turn to honor the Veterans.
Pa Bill served 4 decorated years in the army.

Each veteran was given a certificate and pin.
Thanks Pa Bill for taking the morning off from work to join us!


With all that celebrating on Monday and Tuesday,
the boys and I took today to kick back with friends.


Thank you to all the Veteran's that protect our country and rights of our citizens.
God's blessings on you, Sarah :D

Clean Hands, Happy Mama

Ok, if I promise to learn a new craft,
would you indulge me just one more time?

Problem:
Boys that either forget to wash their hands
OR
use entirely too much soap.

Solution:
Super size bottle of soap for a mere $1
AND
a sweet reminder to wash your hands.


Because after all,
clean hands equal a happy Mama!
God's blessings on your afternoon, Sarah :D

Just In Case

Just in case my memory fades,
may I never forget...

This big red fire truck that really squirts water.

This boy who used to have baby fat.

And this baby boy who's morning hair resembles a peacock!

Today I challenge you to take a few random snapshots.
Let's lock in those everyday pleasures to enjoy forever!
God's blessings, Sarah :D

Birds & Bracelets

Hi everyone & happy Saturday!
I have a crafty creation to share with you...
SqUeAL! :D
But first I have to give credit to Edie over at Life In Grace.
She's hosting the 12 Days of Handmade Christmas.
If you haven't checked her out,
you must go now.
I promise, you'll be so glad you did!
On the 4th day of Christmas, Edie and Denise from Living Life Creatively gave to us 4 Calling Birds.
I couldn't wait to give it a try.
I printed out the pattern and then grabbed a scrap of toile fabric.
After one slight mishap (I forgot to flip the pattern around to make the other side of her body) I was ready to sew.
I started by sewing on her eyes.
Yes, she's a girl.
The pattern called for smaller eyes but my needle wouldn't fit through my small beads.
I thought it was easier to chose a different bead than find a smaller needle.
Lazy, yes, but whatever.

Next I sowed the front of the body to head piece.
On a side note:
That glowing yellow is a stretchy bracelet.
The moment I clicked the picture James used his bracelet as a sling shot.
And I was the target! :)

So I'm wondering, what genius invented these stretchy rubber band bracelets?
More importantly, why wasn't it me??

We count them, we trade them, we collect them.
BUT, I digress.

Focus, focus, focus...
Here I am attempting to show you what your bird will look like when you've sewn the front, to the head, to the back.
You got all that, right?!

Fast forward through a few steps and here you have yourself a sassy little bird.
Side view.

Front view.

And finally, here she is in all her glory.
Doesn't she look like she's kicking out her left leg??
CUTENESS!!!

So go, check out Denise and Edie's tutorial.
It's the real deal.
I am but a mere student of the masters. ;>
Have a great weekend and don't forget to let me know what you think.
You know I need your feedback!
God's blessings, Sarah :)

Doorstep Delivery

Hi all!
Thanks for your votes with the Halloween contest.
I haven't heard the final numbers but I know it was close.
So win or lose, thanks for voting!

Now on to business. :D

Last week my good friend Allison left a package on my doorstep.
She called out of the blue and told me to check my front porch.
It seems she had picked up some yard sale leftovers from her mom.
As she loaded them in her truck she spied something that had my name written all over it.
SqUEaL, I LOVE FUN SURPRISES!!!
Without further ado I give you my doorstep treasure...

Alli said she wasn't sure what I would use it for but I knew I'd think of something.
Here I am showing off my treasure to Andy.

After looking at the lines and little cubbies I got an idea.
I've seen the most fantabulous ribbon holders around blog land.
I just haven't figured out how to recreate them.
Until, now!
So I took this...

and made this...

You Like??
Quick, easy, free and most importantly from a dear friend.
All the qualities of a treasured project!
For now it's on my bookshelf beside my desk.
It keeps my ribbon readily available for whenever inspiration strikes.
Thanks Alli!!!


Now on to Part II...

Several months ago I signed up to participate in my first gift swap.
My partner was Tawnya from Texas.
After I studied up on her a bit I got to work.
Here are a couple of the projects I made for her...
First, a cute little plate for her to decorate with
OR use as a dry erase memo board.
For short messages of course! ;>

I knew that Halloween was her favorite holiday so when I spotted this tiny pumpkin I knew it was a must.
I used a stencil, black and gold Sharpee paint pens, fancy smancy thumb tacks and of course ribbon.
What do ya think?
I call it a blingy pumpkin! :)

Today when I checked the front porch I found another doorstep delivery.
Look at the tote she packed my goodies in... cuteness!

Among the gifts she included...
a cookbook (I can definitely use that),
clorox wipes (yep, needed that)
a couple of great smelling candles (the pumpkin smells yummy),
a stress relief bath set (umh hello, how'd she know I needed that?!)
and last but not least,
the cutest reminder to sprinkle sugar on my life!

Thanks Allison and Tawnya for my doorstep deliveries.
You've both added sugar and smiles to my days.
God's blessings on your weekend, Sarah :>