My Dining Room

Welcome to my home.

This is my dining room. It makes me happy. I love RED. My old dining room was red, and in this one we have a red wall. It is in the middle of the kitchen and living room, and so it is not its own room. In fact, if you turned around you would see my insanely-in-need-of-organizing scrapbook/craft area. My mom is the organizing queen, and I am sure that soon she will get her hands on it and help me with it, because it is probably eating at her that it is so crazy! (I love you Mom.)

My china cabinet was my Grandparents, and my parents sanded it and painted it white for me. It was quite the task, because it is solid stained oak. But their valiant efforts paid off, and it is beautiful. I cherish it, my Grandmother is gone, and my Grandfather has sized down and had no need for it. I will always keep it, because it was theirs. It may find itself undergoing a makeover or two, but it is priceless. My collection of china from an antique store is in there- I found it marked down after Christmas one year. I made my mom ask them if they would take less for it, and amazingly they did! (I am terribly shy at that, but am getting better!) It is white with flowers and RED around the edges!!! I freaked out when I got it. China, fancy, but with bold red boarders?? Amazing. That is all on the bottom shelf.

On the middle shelf you can find a set of coffee mugs (the white cups with green flowers) that were my Mother-In-Laws, she gave them to us when we got married and had few dishes. She won them at a gas station? Too cool. There is a clear glass tea set my husband picked out with me on one of my birthdays, and a bright red tea pot that was a gift from my mom.

On the top shelf there are more dishes I love! Most of those were gifts too!

Hanging on the wall is an antique shelf holding more pretties...My chandelier still makes my heart sing, I got it at one of my favorite shops. I had always dreamed of having one. Now I have that one, a cute little Ikea one in my daughters room, and a pretty larger Ikea one in my bedroom! I feel so blessed! I never thought I would have THREE!

Notice my little angel pixies in there?

I want to paint my dining room table. I am thinking white and black? White top, black legs? Or just all white? It will take some convincing to get my husband to let me do it. But I'm up for the task.

I will give you some peeks into my other rooms eventually. I have been getting some help getting it all in order, and hope to have a more finished looking house soon!

By the way, my table is rarely ever free of clutter. My new goal is to keep it that way!!

Thank you for visiting!

Megan

{Joy}

If only it were this simple...

No, I'm not feeling down today, I was just caught by the irony of this phrase. I was washing a bottle this weekend and the dish soap snagged my attention. Is there a way we can truly capture JOY?

A friend of mine, Bo Stern, did a study on Joy on her blog. I'm going to list her installments below, in order, so you can go and study with her. Take your time reading them, and let it sink in. The Word is powerful and doesn't return void. Are you struggling with Joy right now? Does it seem like your world is more full of sorrow, anger, or fear than Joy? Take the time and make the effort to delve into this. You won't regret it.

*

Part one- Who's the Boss of Joy?

*

Part Two- Joy and the Tale of Two Kings

*

Part Three- Joy and His Presence

*

Part Four- Joy and Unmet Expectations

*

Part Five- Joy and Worship

*

Part Six- Hand-me-down-Joy

*

Part Seven- Altitude of Joy

*

There is more to come, and I will add them on to this post as they follow. Bookmark this if you want to be able to come back to this, or even better, just subscribe to Bo and follow her! She is amusing, witty, insightful, and helps orphans. My kind of lady!

Be Blessed with Joy-

Megan

(Edited once again to say- Please bear with me. The formatting keeps going all funky when I post pictures, and I cant add spaces between my paragraphs. Hence the little stars in between. Annoying. Anyone know how to fix this?

What I've Been Up To...

This is what I have been up to lately...

Made this-

And this...

Mixed with a little of this...


And a lot of this!

We are headed out of town for the weekend, my husbands family is renting a little cabin and we are celebrating my Sister in Law's 30th birthday! Should be lots of snow, and lots of fun!

I hope you all have a relaxing weekend, and I hope to catch up with everyone next week!

Blessings,

Megan

(P.S.- Does anyone else get GIDDY when the spellcheker finds no errors, or is that just me?)

EDITED TO ADD: Thank you Jen for pointing out that I spelled spellchecker wrong. Apparently I failed to spellcheck again when I added my P.S. ... I kan spel reel good, rite? She should get a prize for discovering that. =)

To love all things...

I never did mention my New Years resolution, did I?

It is not to lose weight (I hope I do though), nor take up a new hobby (wouldn't you say I have ENOUGH of those?), it is not to keep my house cleaner (I would like a magical fairy for that one please), or to exercise (because that would take too much effort).

It is to love all things {CUPCAKE}. Oh my. I did a search on etsy for Cupcake items, and glory be, the yummy that I found!!

My first intention was to get ideas for my daughters 1st Birthday party that is coming up next month. (NO! She just can't be one!!! Make it stop!) Then as I browsed, I formulated my Resolution in my mind. Yes, this would take much work (sarcasm) to love all things cupcake. But, maybe, just maybe, I can do it.

As for my daughters birthday, I found this and ordered it-

I see it with a tutu, for her Birthday Photos.

And then I looked at THIS , Cupcake Fancy.

Cupcake Fluffy (Here)

Cupcake Happy (Here)

Cupcake Sparkly (Here)

And then the other day I came up with this for LaLa to wear (not in my shop yet, but will be soon)-

Ahhh. My cupcake fix for the day. Calorie free too! (Let it be known, I only bought the baby hat. I drooled profusely over the other items though.)

Now, my question to all of you- Can you help me find the best cupcake and frosting recipe ever? I want to somehow come up with some very unique fancy pants frosting idea. I picture yellow cupcakes with pink sprinkles in them for some pizazz, but how to do the tops? Maybe that mouldable frosting?

Show me some cupcake love!

Megan

24 hours of {CrAzY}

It has been just crazy around here for the past 24 hours.


Wednesday night, my husband, who had surgery 2 weeks ago, spiked a major fever. It went from 98.8 to 102.4 in a matter of 2.5 hours.


Yikes!


I called his Dr on call, and they wanted him to come in right away once morning arrived. If you recall, he broke his leg at Christmas, and so had surgery was on his ankle. He spent New Years Eve in the operating room. 6 screws and one metal plate later, he took up residency in our big-comfy-chair. And he hijacked the computer. But that's a different tale for anther day.

They put a cast on his leg on Monday. Apparently they have many colors to choose from! My sweet husband looked at me and said "You pick." Two little words. I grinned at him thinking of all my options. Pink. Purple. I wondered if they would mix pink and brown? I held his reputation in my hands. Maybe I could add some glitter? I have much experience with glitter and spray adhesive now. But, out of my great sacrificial love for this man and his pride, I picked camouflage. It was really cool! He looked all manly and trendy with that on. And oh my! We were the talk of the lobby as we left! It was super funny. Imagine a lobby full of people who apparently all have broken ankles and legs too, admiring my husbands pick of cast. My Dear Husband is quite the comedian, so there was much jovial joking all the way out between him and the other injured souls. He was very popular. Imagine if I had picked pink?


Back to the fever. We were able to control it with Tylenol, finally. And so Dear Husband went from a boiling lobster to more of a hamster in a hot tub. (Do hamsters use hot tubs?) After a long night of waking up to take his temperature, and Baby LaLa waking up repeatedly, morning finally arrived. We headed into the Doctors.



They needed to take the cast off to look at his incision, and they have this amazing little tool for that. It is a power tool/vacuum. It looks like a little handheld dust buster, with a circular saw blade on the end of a hose. They stuck a long plastic stick down the cast to cut along, and protect his leg from getting cut. (Much appreciated.) And then they sawed that sucker right off!


Everything looked good for where he is post-op, but they had concerns that there could be a blood clot because of some of his symptoms. And so we made our way to the hospital for the ultrasound. All of this required waiting, waiting, and more waiting. We had the baby with us and she did well all day. She was especially charming, and got compliments wherever we went. I like babies, they are like puppies, but you can take them into stores, coffee shops, and restaurants with you! A definite plus.


The ultrasound also turned out positive. What a relief! We were so thankful after the worry and concern that had been hanging over us. The camo cast is a thing of the past now, which is a little sad in that it had such style. They gave him a walking boot (which he can't walk on) so that they can monitor his incision to make sure nothing develops. He is so much more comfortable now, and is allowed to take it off to shower, and when he is resting on the couch. Although I am making sure he only has it off when the kids are NOT around. Can you imagine? Kids can't help but climb on, or knock into, anyone in the room with them. That just would not be pretty.


This walking boot does have a drawback. It looks like a giant moon boot! I guess that is only a drawback for me.


Maybe the moon boot wants some glitter...


And so here we are, 24 hours after this all began, and I should be in bed! The baby now has a low fever, and these next few days could be a continuation of the CrAzY. So we have one positive and one negative to look at.


Positive- we now can see this is a virus, which chases away fears of oddly contracted post-op evil bacteria that could ambush his leg and do evil little post-op bacteria things.


Negative- we now can see this is a virus, we get to wait and see if the rest of us get it, how badly we get it, and ride that one out. But it is the lesser of two evils.


And so, with a sigh, I sign off. Leaving you with a photo of Crouching-Tiger-Hidden-Dragon-Camo-Cast-Man.

Falling into a coma,

Megan

{GiVeAwAy}

There is a LBB Giveaway being hosted over at We Are THAT Family...Pop on over and enter to win $25 to spend in my shop!

WooHoo!
-Megan

You asked about my glitter flowers...And a major award!

So here they are!

By the way, my husband asked me about the glitter this morning. He said "I don't get how you got glitter all over the kitchen. It is behind the fishtank, all over the counters, and it was even in the frying pan this morning, I had to clean it out before I made pancakes." Hehe. He was still smiling when he said this though.

Hmmm...I should sprinkle some in the fishes water. That would look pretty. (Don't worry, I won't risk the poor fishes life. Yes, we only have one fish in our whole tank. Apparently we do a very poor job and keeping fish alive.)

So on to the photos of the glitter flowers! I made them to attach them to some tutu's I was making. My sister in law asked me to make two fancy ones for her 8 year old daughter and her 8 month old daughter. They are for her 8 year old's birthday party. The white ones are simple ones for her daughters guests. So here they are-

This is the baby girls tutu-

More of the baby's-

I didn't put a glitter flower on the baby's tutu, it didn't seem baby safe...

This is the flower on the big girl's tutu- See the under petals? They are coated in glitter.

The buttons were already sparkly-

Here are the white flowers up close-

These are the true culprits of the glitter-spray-adhesive-attack of 2009-

So there you have it! My poor sis in law, she is going to have glitter floating around her house for weeks. No, really though, I coated them in Modge Podge post glittering to try to prevent that from happening.

{My Award}

Guess what?? I got an award!! (Hearing a quote from "A Christmas Story" playing over and over in my mind...) "A MAJOR AWARD?!?!?". Thank you Amanda from Imperfectly Beautiful!! You are too sweet. She gave me this award and said such kind things about me. She is a lovely lady, funny, beautiful, and has been a treat to get to know. I am delighted with her friendship.

So the name to the game is that I am supposed to list 5 things I am addicted to, and pass it on to 5 other bloggers I am addicted to following.

{My AdDiCtIoNs}

#1) My Family: I adore my husband and children. So much that I want more. Not more Husbands. Dear me no. More children. I love their hugs, their smell, their little bodies in my arms.

#2) Taking Photos: My dear husband gets on me for this one. He has to remind me to put down the camera and participate in whats happening. I love taking photos. Of my kids, my travels, random stuff. Life. I love photos of life. I want to capture every millisecond of my childrens lives on camera. Thank goodness for Digital. Thank goodness for Mega Memory Cards!

#3) STARBUCKS: Give a Grande-Triple-Shot-Decaf-No-Foam-7-Pump-Vanilla-Latte and I am one happy girl. If I am hot then make it a Venti-Decaf-Iced-8-Pump-Vanilla-Latte. When the Christmas season begins I have to have that Eggnog Latte. Top it off with a Blueberry Scone or Blueberry Muffin and I'm set. I LOVE STARBUCKS. You could call me a Coffee Snob. You could. But I know you won't. *Wink* I don't like other coffee joints. I love my Starbucks. And I love that anywhere I go I can order up "My" drink and get what my taste buds are anticipating. When I was in college and homesick, I went to Starbucks. It was like flashing back home because the environment there is so similar. To commemorate this addiction, please note that in the photo featured my daughter is 3 days old. Even better, I will put one on post-labor and delivery. Yes, give me my Starbucks with that Epidural please. Does it come in an IV?

Now I am asking myself why on earth I posted that photo of myself. Please note the paparazzi were taking multiple photos of me taking me completely off guard...

#4) Is a tie between {Fabric}, {Scrapbooking}, and {Christmas}. And I just cheated. I love fabric, I cannot have enough of it, and there are so many patterns out there that I want to own so badly it hurts! Scrapbooking is the same. I have SHELVES full of scrapbooking stuff. I could eat it I love it so much. And Christmas, well, do I even have to describe that?

#5) BlOgGiNg: I get lost in all your blogs. Unknowingly, I end up spending hours reading and absorbing all your beautiful ideas, funny posts, thoughtful musings, and your beautiful hearts. I love it.

So there you have it. And now, in continuation of "the longest post in the world" my five bloggy buddies I would like to award this to-

#1) Violet over at Create Beauty. I just might be partial to her, because I may perhaps be related to her. She is a true Artist, and talent flows from her fingertips. She is funny, kind, and devoted to her Savior. I {Heart} her.

#2) Shelbi over at Keeper of the Chocolates. She is a precious person. Her Etsy shop is amazing, I bought a necklace from it for my mom for Christmas. She is kind, and you can feel the love flowing from her!

#3) Carolina Mama- She is a lovely lady. She welcomed me into blogland and tweetdom, and hosted my first giveaway. I am so thankful for someone who so kindly introduced me into blogland!

#4) Grey Like Snuffie - She posts beautifully poetic spiritual insights and encouragements. I love reading he blog, it uplifts me and re-focuses me on my walk with Jesus. She is also a lovely, kind lady!

#5) Marci over at All Things Wonderful. I just 'met' her recently, and she is a delightful person. We have quite a bit in common. I really appreciate her daily life posts, and her kind spirit.

There are so many more ladies I would pass this on to! Go visit these wonderful women and send them some bloggy love.

Thank you to all of you who read my blog, and converse with me through comments and such. You fill me with such encouragement and I love this bloggy relationship! I cannot describe the thrill I get in your comments and compliments. Thank you!

I {Heart} You!

Now ending the longest-post-ever,

Megan

{{Edited to say: I'm so annoyed that the formatting got all funky at the end of this post! I tried to change it but it won't let me. Grr.}}

My {Word of the Year}

Inspired by Marci over at Everything Beautiful, I wanted to join in with Laurie from Tip Junkie's"Word of the Year" movement.

My word?

{To Hold Dear} my children who are growing up right before my eyes.

{To Hold Dear} my husband whom I fell in love with when our lives were simpler and less busy- and remember the love that drew us together when those crazy days seem so unavoidable.

{To Hold Dear} my parents, in-laws, brother, and brother and sister's in law, and all the nieces and nephews that grace our extended family. life is so busy that we can forget what and WHO we are deeply blessed with.

{To Hold Dear} the sacrificial gift of my Savior, and the blessing of a daily relationship with Him.

{To Care For Tenderly} these little souls who's hands I hold for so short a time. giving them the best that I have, letting tenderness infuse my every moment of interaction with them, whether it be folding their laundry, making their food, or kissing their owies.

{Nurture} their souls with my love and God's Love. fill their hearts, minds, and souls with Scripture and the Great Story of our Salvation.

{To Cling Fondly To} my memories of those who have passed, sweet memories of childhood, each moment with my husband and children, my Salvation, and the gift of Life that I have the privilege to live.

Cherish.

What will you Cherish this year?

Thoughtfully,

Megan

Misadventures With Spray Adhesive

Why didn't you tell me spray adhesive was dangerous??

I decided yesterday I needed to embellish some fake flowers. I had dyed them the night before and they didn't look quite right, so this was attempt to embellish #2. I had spray adhesive, and I had glitter. Sounded good to me. I figured a little spritz, a little sprinkle, and ta-da!

I was just about giddy at the thought of using the spray adhesive. I had just picked it up the other day. It was new to me. (Don't ask why, I am not new to crafting, just different glues.)

I pulled all the flowers off their stems, and held them over the sink to spritz them with spray adhesive. Spritz, ha. Douse is more like it. That was OK though, it was the look I was going for, right? Mistake #1. DO NOT USE SPRAY ADHESIVE OVER THE SINK AND DISHES. (I know what you are thinking- "Duh Megan." Right.) As I discovered later, the dishes and the sink ended up with a healthy coating of glue. Nice. Like I didn't have enough to clean in the kitchen.

I then dipped them into glitter. I had dumped it onto a paper plate. This was working for me. The edges were getting all glitter-fied, and looked all happy and sparkly. And so were my fingers. No big deal I thought, I will wash it off later. Mistake #2. SPRAY ADHESIVE IS DIFFICULT TO GET OFF HANDS ONCE DRIED AND SEALED WITH GLITTER. Another little tidbit I would discover later. I also, in the tradition of "Making-the-biggest-mess-possible", managed to spread the glitter love all over my kitchen during this adventure.

Good thing the baby was in bed, she would have been coated in glitter and spray glue too.

I continued in this fashion, spraying flowers over the sink, twirling them in glitter, la-de-da. I gave them a second coat of adhesive hoping to seal the glitter on. Hmmm...that didn't work so well. Glitter still came off though...Maybe I would try something else later.

I felt generally pleased with myself though. My hands may be coated in adhesive and glitter, but the flowers looked oh-so-sparkly and nice. The dishes and hands would come clean with a little soap and water. No worries. I laid all the flowers out to dry.

It was time to clean up.

First my hands. I washed them with soap and water. Hmmm. Nothing was coming off. Maybe a little scrubbing would help.

This stuff was a little stronger than I had anticipated. I scrubbed more- still stuck. What was the deal?

I picked at it, and that didn't help.

Now please don't ask me what I was thinking next. It was something along the lines of a recollection that you could get tree sap off with oil or something. I had the vegetable oil on the counter- why not try that on my hands? I poured the oil on my hands and started rubbing. At first I thought I had made a difference, only to realize that all I had managed to do was moisturize the glittery-glue sealant that covered my skin. Like the glue needed to be moisturized.

I paused my pursuit of glitter removal to use the bathroom. That little trip left me with hands coated in glue, glitter, and toilet paper fuzz. Another household chore and I had hands coated with glue, glitter, toilet paper fuzz, and dog hair. Life doesn't stop and wait for you to get gunk off your hands. This was getting annoying.

My husband suggested rubbing alcohol when he learned of my predicament. I scrubbed that on, and managed to get my palms clean, but now the tops of my thumbs burned. I picked at the glue with a little success. At this point I decided to forget about it and wait for it to all eventually wear off. I also decided I didn't even want to think about the result of the glue and the sink and dishes.

Thankfully this morning I awoke to find the glitter and glue had come off my hands. I decided to venture into the kitchen and see what havoc I had wrecked there. After much scrubbing the dishes started to come clean. Some I just stuck in the washer hoping it would work some magic. I got the majority clean. And learned my lesson.

Hopefully that lesson will stick when I decide to pull out the spray paint.

Feeling a bit sticky,
Megan

Just So You Know...

I can make any of the items in my etsy shop on a T-Shirt for all sizes from 0-3 Month to 5T. If you purchase something, leave a message to me about what size you want, and if you want a onesie (all sizes up to 12 months) or a T-Shirt. Also if you all ever have a special request of any sort of item and are wondering if I make it, just ask me! I very likely can! I am going to think up some Women's T's with simaler designs, so if you see a design on an infants onesie and want it on your own T, give me a shout! I have a hankerin to make up some baby cotton jogging suit combos, but am wondering if they will be popular. They are a little pricey to make, being that I order the jacket and pants and then embellish it.

Just a little FYI! =) Again, contact me if you want to order up any unique items that you don't see in my shop!

Working on a Tutu order (fluff and frills are fun!),
Megan

{New Year, New Style}

at least for one shirt...

I pulled a storage bin out from under my bed a couple of days ago, and found some winter clothes I had failed to get out yet! This was exciting because I had really wanted to go shopping, but that wasn't going to happen. And so, in some warm fuzzy way, I still felt like I had. Because these hidden clothes were new to this year.

But some of them were VERY bOrInG.

An idea sparked...
And the spark lit a little flame...
And the flame grew...
And my hands were fueled with creative energy!

(Please forgive the not-so-spectacular pictures I took...)

{Drab}

{Fab!}

Collar up close...

Heart on the hip...

And LaLa thought she needed a new shirt as well-

WooHoo!

I Yike it, as my 3 year old would say.

And now, I have a confession. I never knew what Anthropologie was. (GASP). I saw you all talk about it...I heard the love in your voices...And I wondered. So I found it online...

Oh the Joy and Rapture! {Tempered by} Oh the High Prices!

I think I shall attempt to make/embellish some of my own clothes using Anthropologie as inspiration this year. You should also see a hint of it in the baby clothes I sell.

Yes, I think I'm in love...

Dreaming of new clothes,

Megan

I'm Still Here!!

Just busy keeping up with a post-op hubby and the kiddos!

The surgery went well for my husbands ankle, thank you for all your thoughts and well wishes! He had it done yesterday, and is still recovering, has to be off his feet for awhile longer. He got 6 screws and a metal plate in- yikes!

I have pictures from a fun little project I want to show you, hopefully tomorrow.

Happy New Year!!

Trying to keep up with the busy,
Megan