Working through my Mother’s stroke and trying to figure out a routine with working, taking care of her and trying to work through all of her worldly goods.

She is doing great but will be staying in a Skilled Nursing Center if everything works out.

I’ll be back to creating and posting once I figure out a more solid routine.

Miss doing this but I know with patience I will be able to start it up on a more timely basis later.

Merry Christmas

I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and apologize for not posting very often.

My Mother suffered a stroke 11 days ago and we have been in ICU twice.  Praise the Lord we are now heading to rehabilitation.  This medical emergency has changed both of our lives completely.  Her independent days are over and we have a long road ahead of us.  We do not know at this point how much of her motor skills she will be able to regain.  However, she can swallow and she has her long term memory.   We are still working on her short term memory.

Though we are learning what it is going to take going forward, there were so many miracles along the way.  I will post again when our lives are ironed out a little more and we develop a routine.  I’m praying for strength and wisdom as I figure out how to take care of her and get her skilled nursing help along with holding down a job and managing my household and family needs.  My husband, daughters and son-in-law along with our church family has been so faithful and helpful and we are overwhelmed by the love and compassion we are experiencing.

I will definitely need creative time and time just to to get away.  I’m also realizing I’m going to need to attend some support group meetings so I can learn how to handle all the ups and downs and learn what to expect and how to accept and encourage where we are on this road of life.

Again, from our family to yours Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

This year I concentrated on the outside decorations.

I took chipboard letters and painted them with chalkboard ink, then I took a chalk poster pen and wrote fun things about the kids.

I mixed up the fonts on the names to give it a whimsical look and added the glitter embossed Merry Christmas to the paper.

I found somethings that went along with their likes and personalities and hot glued them on the shelf of the Advent Calendar.

Rylan is so into princesses and Jolee’s 3D embellishments was a lot easier than making them myself.

I found a cute Reindeer stamp at M’s and colored it in with Copics specific to each of their calendars.

The little boxes to this Advent calendar are so small that it is difficult to find small things to put in the box except candy.  So we make it fun by adding a tag and giving instructions for them to get a bigger gift that wouldn’t fit in the box…like socks.

The kids are so excited every year to get the Advent calendars and Daughter #1 says she has to push them back from the edge of the cabinet so they don’t peek and see what’s in the boxes…..she said they are looking for the $$.  Starts early doesn’t it!

With the little camera I have, the pictures do not always do it justice.

However, between the white lights and the Mercury Glass I had to add some white ornaments to get the silver to show up.

As you can see the lights were reflecting off the paneling.

My BFF gave me some beautiful ornaments of a vintage Santa.  They are a little dark but they look great with the Mercury Glass.

She was right they look awesome!

I also did a little different tree topper this year.  Kept it on a smaller scale so it would not distract from the ornaments.

Again, it takes a mixture of silver and white to make things pop.

Love how it came out and it will only get better with time.  Love the look of the Mercury Glass and the white ornaments and decorations.

Next up will be my dining room’s table center piece.  It turned out really well.

Excuse the “not a foot model” feet.

It was fun explaining to the little girl what I wanted, but once we “Googled” it she was so excited to be challenged to do something fun.

Luckily in Texas you can wear flip flops for most of the year…..it’s suppose to be 70 today. Every time I look down at my feet they make me smile.

I get to move this to my Pinterest Board – Completed.

Hmmmm, I think this may get me on the naughty list.  As my Daughter #1 said, “so gaudy, but I want to do that too!”

Phyllis, when you see this look at how happy it is in it’s new home!

However, I try to pass out something at our meetings at work that will brighten the support staffs time that they have to spend in the meeting.

Super simple…..I like the ghost peeps and the snack size Hersey’s bar fits nice in the little package.

Basic 2 graham cracker squares, ghost peeps, Hersey’s snack bar in a bag with a rectangle of Halloween paper with the MS drip punch and a little ribbon.

Turned out super cute and the support staff loved it.  Ok, I had two left over for the Grand kids, nailed it!

This was super simple and very quick to put together.   Will do this again!

I’ve been seeing a lot of chalkboard art and I’ve been wanting to try it.

I found some chalk pens @ M’s back in the area where they keep Martha Stewart’s paints.  Used their 40% off coupon plus their multiple $$ off with the size of purchase $5 up to $20.00, etc.  Yes, they let me use both.

I found a saying I liked on line……I think I linked through Tip Junkie.  Printed it off on regular paper.

Turn the paper over and used regular chalk to put a layer of chalk across the entire sayings.  The chalk will act as a transfer medium when I trace the saying onto my Chalkboard.

Next tape the saying onto the chalkboard in the area you want to transfer.  Use a sharp pencil or a fine pen and trace around the saying and art.

Hmm, can’t tell by this picture but I taped it in the middle of my chalkboard.

I started at the top, filling in the words (or writing) and worked my way down.  Be careful where your hand lays as this chalk will get wiped away.

A better way (now that I’ve finished) is probably to start at the bottom and work your way up.

This really didn’t take that long and I love the way this turned out.  The chalkboard pens will clean off with a damp cloth.

I will definitely, do this again….maybe more elaborate and bigger….can’t wait.

Remember this little arrangement sitting on my dining room table?

See the little acorn, I decided to give that some “Sherrification”!

Here are the supplies you will need, or something similar.  Click on the picture to make it bigger.

Glue

Glitter (I’m using German Glass Glitter).  Love the chunkiness and the look.

Foam Brush or some type of applicator to put the glue on.

Something to catch the glitter that falls off so you can re-use it (I’m using a coffee filter).

I applied glue to the top of the acorn in sections.  That way the glue doesn’t dry out before you get the glitter on.

The glue I’m using gets tackier when it sets for a few seconds so it grabs the glitter better.

I sprinkled the German Glass Glitter onto the acorn over a coffee filter.

I work my way all the way around the top of the acorn.

At this point I’m not worried that it didn’t cover everything, I’ll come back to that.

I let it set and dry for “a spell” and then I start working on the areas that need additional coverage.

I repeat the process until I get it the full coverage.

I use black German Glass Glitter (using the same technique) for the stem.

Look you can still see the diagonal lines that were cut in the top before I “Sherrified” it.

Here it is sitting with the pumpkins in the tray.  I love the little pop of color and glitz it added.  Hmmm, I think I have a large acorn I was working on from last year.  

Got to go give it some “Sherrification”!

I like to do a little “Sherrification” to them to give it my own twist.

I used some Stickles, Copic Markers, Liquid Pearls, and inking along with other various items.  Some of it adds texture and dimension to the piece.

I found my piece over @  http://www.overthebigmoon.com/fall-subway-art.

I printed off on colored card stock and then mounted it on  chocolate brown card stock to provide some contrast.

It fit very nicely in my frame and add my little gold pumpkin, makes the home feel rather toasty.  The other little burlap pumpkin is from Hobby Lobby.

It has rained for a couple of days here and it is beginning to feel like fall.  I even wore some boots today to church.

Grab you a nice frame and find you some great free subway art and use it to help change the decor of the room.  Very inexpensive.