A Small Snippet

first off, i had a request to see the “after” of the closet clean-up yesterday.

so here’s the BEFORE:

here’s the AFTER:
it looks about as good as it’s ever looked. you can actually see the floor, and i know where all my stuff is! Canaan came home from school, peeked in, and exclaimed, “we have a new playroom!!” i keep walking by and smiling…it feels so nice to have it organized!

its been a busy week with all this cleaning and organizing, and its not quite done. hoping this weekend is fruitful too! but that’s why its taken me some time to get to your Q&A’s. That, and the fact that Blogger has been down, preventing me from posting! Arggghhh…

but THANKS SO MUCH for participating with me! so are you ready?? first off, i am an expert on NOTHING! so any question you have posed will be answered with my opinion and experience ONLY! which means, i do not believe that the way i do things or think about things is the way you should do things or think about things! just thought you should know….

with that said, on to the questions!!

i’ve had a few questions in the birthday party realm, so i’ll start there!

1) “What online resources do you use to help inspire your ideas? Any excellent “go-to” blogs? do you have a “birthday party time-line” that you’d be willing to share? how early do you start on the crafty stuff? the decorations? the recipes? do a post on your sweet kids and birthday parties and how they go together!”

so a few words on that: (fyi…to most of you, if not all, these thoughts will be nothing new. i’m sure you do these and more! but these are my best answers!)

first off, celebrating is a BIG deal to me! HUGE! and birthdays are a BIG deal to me too! i feel like that is your one special day, all for you, and its an opportunity to just feel loved and celebrated all day long, and reminded that we were created with meaning and purpose. for my kiddos, i think that day presents the perfect opportunity to remind them of the many ways that they are celebrated, the precious gifts that they are, and the many people who love them.

so that’s why we spend the time and money on birthday parties. however, i’m pretty convinced that you don’t have to throw a party to celebrate well, nor do you have to spend any money! some years, we won’t have parties at all (like possibly this next year!), but you can be sure that we will still celebrate!

for those of you that know me well, i am a big time cheapo. basically, money makes me nervous, and i’m always lookin for the best deal and the biggest bargain! so i try to do as much as possible to make things super inexpensive. so when it comes to parties, its on the cheap. we feel like our parties for our kids are our gift to them, so any money we would’ve spent on a gift, even though small, is spent on the party. that’s also the reason that i make all the decorations, invitations, food, and supplies. i think its much less expensive to do so, although it does take more alot more time. but i’ve got more time than i do money, so that’s an area where i can use what i do have and make it work!!!

which is why i start early!! i’ll try to begin thinking and planning a few months in advance, and then actually shopping and implementing ideas at least a month before. i’m not typically a last minute type of girl, so anything i can get done beforehand, i try to do. i make tons of lists, and sketch out whatever set up i need to think through. most of the decorations are completed a few days in advance, the day before is spent cleaning and cooking and setting up, and then the day of is last minute food prep and final set up. i also take advantage of having lots of family who live in town and they are a huge help the day of, which is always crazy, no matter how much you prepare! And I couldn’t do a darn bit of it if I didn’t have a hubby that helped out and supported it all!

as for ideas: whenever i see something i like in a magazine, i tear it out and keep it in a file with other party ideas. I’ve been doing that for years, so i’ve acquired quite a list! i also keep a folder on my computer with any ideas i see on the web. some of my favorite ideas have come from martha stewart (lisa…there is a polka dot party idea on there!), and another go-to site for me has been parents.com. i also like this site, this site, and this site! the majority of my parties are exact copies of things i’ve seen in other places! sometimes i combine ideas from different sources and throw in just a few original ideas, but alot of the time, i really just implement what i’ve found in magazines or on the web!

one last note about parties. i realize that not everyone will have this same motivation, but one purpose that we feel like our kids parties serve is an opportunity to be with people that we are not normally with, and to build relationships with other parents. we feel like our kids are becoming a good link for us to our community and other families through sports teams, school, etc. so parties are a good way of having some of those families in our home, with the hopes of building relationships and friendships with them.

2) “where do you find all your super cute fabrics?”
ahh…fabric!! i LOVE fabric! it seems as if i’ve passed the love onto my little bug too! in fact, she was the one who found the fabric that i used on my ruffled camera strap! i was looking around our fave shop, and next thing i know, she had pulled it off the shelf while saying, “what about this one?” it was perfect, and everytime she sees it, she says, “i picked that out!” so glad to have a partner in crime!
anyway, my most favorite fabric shop in my town, called the “Old Green Cupboard” closed recently…interject a tear! i was super sad, but it forced me to do some research and i quickly found a replacement shop that is wonderful and actually closer to my house! for those of you in town, its called Paula’s Fine Fabrics. They carry a lot from my favorite fabric designer, Amy Butler, so its a great place to get some of her pieces. In the past, i’ve also ordered a lot of fabric online. A favorite online place has been Premier Prints. And Joann’s Fabrics actually has some great stuff too!! i’ve even made curtains out of a bolt of flat fold fabric from Joann’s, like these in my kitchen:

I used to pass right by the flat folds, thinking all the good stuff was hung up. But I was missing out, let me tell you! I don’t make that mistake anymore! (and plus, flat folds tend to be less expensive!) and one last place where i’ve found some great fabric (as well as a large majority of things in my house) = GARAGE SALES!! try it out…you’ll be hooked!

3) What are some basic tips/ground rules you’d recommend for taking better photos with a simple ‘point and shoot’ digital camera?

Great question! just not sure i’m a great person to answer it, considering i’m no professional! But the good thing about most point and shoot cameras I see today is that they seem to capture amazing shots without having to do much but “point and shoot.” I guess that’s why they are called that! However, I think there are some basic tips regardless of the camera you use. One thing I try to keep in mind when shooting is that I want to capture some kind of unique shot, different than what anyone else might capture. Anyone can just shoot an object or person dead on, smiling at the camera. (and sometimes that’s wonderful, and I do that a lot!!) But I try to find a different angle, or capture a moment when the people don’t know you are capturing it, anything to make the picture more than just what anyone’s eye might see. Does that make sense?? I know that’s general, but basically, think of it like this: if you were standing in a group of people who were all trying to take a picture of the same object, what can you do to make the picture you capture different than all the rest? That’s what my goal is…don’t always accomplish that, but for me, its a good rule of thumb!

4) a few of you have asked if I “will adopt you” or if my family can come and fill your “empty nest.”

i know you’re just kidding, but i figured i’d give you an answer anyway! although those are tempting and very sweet, funny requests, let it just be said that if you spent a full day (or less, for that matter) with me and my family, you would send us packing pretty quickly!! do not let us fool you!! however, you can come visit whenever you want (and if you come, i might just make you these or these!)

5) How do you find time to work on all of your crafts/projects? maybe you have some tips for completing crafts and projects while still running a home and all that goes with it? how do you find the time to do it all???”

Well…i should actually ask ya’ll that question! Cause I need the answer to that more than ya’ll do!! for example, right now, my children are presently in front of me in our family room, playing a full on game of tennis, complete with real racquets and balls. did i happen to mention that we are indoors???
I should be stopping them, or at least playing with them, but I am feeling the pressure to get this post done before the weekend. I should also not only be preparing dinner, but I should’ve long ago thought of what I wanted to prepare for dinner. I have a to-do list a mile long…and will probably not get much of it crossed off today. So basically, I don’t have an answer to that one! I don’t ever “do it all” and I don’t ever have enough time in the day. What I do know is that if I work on one thing, i’m sacrificing another. So somedays we might be eating PB&J’s for dinner if I need to finish a project, or my house might be a wreck as I let the kids run wild while I work on something else. I do not have a good system…i guess I just make it work. My biggest challenge though, is making sure these things do not take the place of enjoying my kiddos and the hubs. And honestly, that’s sometimes a struggle, as they are often the ones who are sacrificing. so…not a great answer, but its an honest one! i do try my best to work on things when my kids are napping/at school or at night when they are in bed.

however, if i’m working on something during the day while they are awake, i have to remind myself that i need to just pull myself away and go play, cause there won’t be many more years left of building Lego Cities, and i’m pretty darn sure that’s way more important than any sewing project, craft project, or recipe that i could muster up!!!
so on that note, i must go…before these two precious ones:

swing a racquet into my wall, making for a longer project this weekend than we already have (more on that later)!

Have a great weekend!

Ps: I didn’t get to all the Q&A’s. Keep em coming, cause there will be another post soon.

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these days, the hubs and i are slightly obsessed with this:

tomorrow i’m “tackling” this:

our master bedroom closet…aka: the abyss. so you might want to pray for me!

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hint…we did not travel to California!! however, we did bring a little bit of Cali to Florida!!

this is what you call a Double Double Animal Style:

and it is to die for!! the recipe is written really well, and very specific, so i’m not going to post it all over again. so just go here and follow what he says. but i’ll show you a few steps along the way!

dice onions and carmelize in skillet.

while onions are carmelizing, slice tomatoes into thick slices…

make the Animal Sauce:

combine ketchup, mayo, sweet relish, vinegar, and sugar.
gather the buns, lettuce, and good American Cheese (no Kraft Singles, peeps. go for the non-processed kind from the deli.)
assemble your patties as the recipe describes. they will be really thin, making for a perfect Double Double! we grilled ours indoors on a griddle, since it was raining, but i think its easier on a griddle anyway. here’s a little secret that you’ll read in the recipe…slather the top of the patty with yellow mustard while its cooking! then, when you flip it, it fries in the mustard. who would’ve thought?! (only do one side though so the mustard flavor isn’t overwhelming.)
once flipped, top with cheese:
once you’ve toasted and fried your buns (yes…i said fried! see recipe!), slather the bottom bun with the Animal Sauce, place 4 dill pickle slices on top, and then pile on two patties.
top with carmelized onions, a thick slice of tomato, some lettuce, and your top bun. now see if you can open your mouth wide enough to capture all the flavors in one bite!
i haven’t had Authentic In-N-Out in 10 years, which was the last time we were in Cali, so i don’t remember enough of what they taste like to tell you if this is a dead ringer or not. however, i can tell you this with complete confidence…in my opinion, this is hands down, no comparision, THE BEST homemade burger i’ve ever eaten!!!
and what’s a Double Double Animal style without the fries???!!

i suggest you go ahead and try it out. here’s a plus side too…if you make it for lunch, like we did, then you won’t have to make dinner cause you’ll be too full to eat anything else the rest of the day! i’m really not kidding!

i have to say a big THANK YOU for the questions ya’ll have sent my way since my last post! i’m excited to get to answering them soon, so be on the lookout for that! but in the meantime, keep ’em coming!

and i figured i’d show you what i’ve been up to today:
i am presently in the throes of organizing every single cabinet, closet, etc in my house. i do have a good reason for it, that i’ll share when its time. but this is pretty much what i’ll be doing all week…and answering your questions!!

so see you soon!

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