Currently {v.28}

THE DEAL: 

Use the weekly themes or use your own - just share what you're "currently" up to! 

Visit the other blogger's that are linking up @ Harvesting Kale and Ot & Et and say hello!

This week's themes:

loving, wishing, craving, missing, worrying 

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Jaimee is...

CURRENTLY loving... this blog post Pep Talk that I shared on the facebook page.  It's seriously good.  I LOVE IT!

CURRENTLY wishing... that myself and my crew would all be healthy again!  We've been bouncing around the flu and strep.  Four out of five in our house are currently on antibiotics...my boys have missed many days of school...and dangit I am just ready to return to running at 100%!

CURRENTLY craving... popcorn.  The good, stovetop kind, that Chef (aka Mr. Craft, Interrupted) makes.  When he gets back from his trip I'm putting in a request for a huge bowl of it.

CURRENTLY missing... my better half.  Business travel out the wazoo lately *sigh*

CURRENTLY worrying... about seemingly random panic symptoms that I've been having.  Been there done that, but in the past it was always triggered by social anxiety.  I've been sick, and worn out running this ragamuffin crew on my own, so hopefully that's all it is...and it will just disappear.

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Tiffany is...

CURRENTLY loving... my son's upcoming Pokemon party.  I thought I would hate it.  In fact, I tried to convince him to do something different.  But the more I work on it, the more excited I am for it!  It's been a lot of fun to plan!

CURRENTLY wishing... it were April.  I just booked my annual scrapbooking retreat girl's weekend set for mid April.  I am so excited!  This will be our fourth year doing it and I look forward to it all year!

CURRENTLY craving... anything crunchy.  I had oral surgery this morning and have been stuck eating soft foods all day!  I need crunchy, chewy, or anything that isn't soft.  My good friends Ben and Jerry got me through the day but it's time to move on.

CURRENTLY missing... my tooth.  Back to the oral surgery.  They cut me open, yanked my tooth out, did ALOT of very loud drilling, shoved metal in my bone so that I can no longer go peacefully through the airport, and sewed me back up. All while I was still awake.  I want that tooth back.  Sorry if that was graphic.  

CURRENTLY worrying... about the children in my son's class.  My son's birthday party is coming up and I tried desperately to invite as many children as I could to the party.  But I just couldn't exceed 12 children.  That counts 3 children not in his class.  At a small class size of only 16 kids that means only a handful were left out.  I am seriously worried that these children are going to feel slighted.  Not to mention the parents I am friends with on facebook who's children were not invited.  It doesn't matter that my son left them off the list because they don't like Pokemon, not because of his relationship with the children.  Maybe, at first grade, they aren't old enough for that yet, but it's really bothering me!  I've tried to figure out how to invite them, and if enough people said they couldn't come, I would be happy to send more invites.  But few actually RSVP.  The hubby thinks I should risk it and invite everyone assuming that kids aren't going to show.  But what if they do and I don't have enough favors or game supplies for them?  Yep, seriously worried.  Why does this have to be so socially stressful?

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Sharing @

Valentine Sing like a {Love} Bird Mantel

Today I'm sharing my Valentine Mantel

In case you missed it, the board, frame, and banner resulted from our 

New Year's Eve Family Motto Activity and became the centerpiece 

for my Winter Mantel.  I plan to keep it up for all of 2013.

Therefore..."Sing like a Bird" has become "Sing like a {love} Bird" for Valentine's Day!

I used mini clothespins to clip a few felt hearts onto my family motto banner.

I made a felt heart garland from aqua, light pink & red sparkle felt, hot glued onto baker's twine.

I put out my Waterless Valentine Globes and Rosette Ball with a faux silver platter (from Dollar Tree).  Yes, the one globe is on a tuna can.  I rummaged my house for three days trying this and that to raise the height of that *just so* and it ended up being the tuna can that did it, 

with the addition of ribbon at least ; )

The other end has my globe, a white ceramic gravy boat 

(tuna cans and gravy boats, this is sounding fabulous), and a faux berry heart. 

My favorite part is the antique mirror, Willow Tree figure, and jumbo red cafe cup with love.

I made the word "love" from two pipe cleaners twisted at one end and wrapped completely in yarn.  Then I shaped it into script, hot glued a few spots to secure the shape, and then hot glued it to a washi-wrapped bamboo skewer.  The cup has a round piece of foam inside and I just poked the skewer in.

I left the white icicle lights up from the winter mantel, so those hang across the front of the fireplace.

Daytime...

Nighttime...

I'm enjoying the colors

white, cream, black, red, pink, aqua

and the textures

wood, glass, book page, chalkboard, mirror, silver, ceramic, paper, lace, yarn...

I made a bunch of yarn poms for a garland, but believe it or not, they just didn't "fit."

So I'm making them into something else and will share that with you soon : )

Sharing @ The LOVE-IT Challenge

w/ Design, Dining & Diapers

Insta-Tuesday {v.4} Ten Feed Favorites

Today on Insta-Tuesday

I'm sharing ten of my favorite feeds

I follow over 300 different instagram users.  Majority of those are fellow craft bloggers, but I also have discovered several creative photographers whose feeds are incredible, beautiful, and inspiring.
I'm sharing ten with you today (in no particular order).  These aren't my TOP ten, just ten that I really like.  Some of these lovelies have blogs and/or shops that are worth a look-see, too.

1) @elsiecake
Everything.

2) @squeakypeach
Color, color.

3) @sheckamecka
Light - a-mazing.

4) @confettis
Color AND light.

5) @jessicakesti
Outdoors and indoors.

6) @cocorose1
Vintage-y goodness and architectural beauty.

7) @kristinrogers
This little fam and their amazing house - I could get lost in these photos.

8) @underthesycamore
The togetherness of this fam and their amazing house.

9) @pen_and_paint
Snapshots of the creative process.

10) lindsay_hellohue
Light, creative work, and the cutest momma and baby boy ever - always makes me smile.

How do you find new feeds to follow?
1. This is what your profile screen should look like.
2. Tap the comment bubble to view recent love left for your pics.
3. Tap "Following" at the top of the comment screen to see what people you follow are loving.
You can see the recent photos your followers like, who they started following, and pics they hearted.
Creepy?  Stalking?  You can decide.  I have found several fantastic feeds this way ; )

To Recap Insta-Tuesday
{v.1} Instagram Blog Hop (another great way to find new feeds!)
{v.2} Rhonna Designs for Android Users
{v.3} Photo App Mash-up w/ Rhonna Designs
 and today's {v.4} Ten Feed Favorites

OHT: Dining Room Part 1

Welcome to Operation: Home Transformation!

As I said last week, I am on a mission to clean and organize my house.  I decided to start with my dining room first.  It had the least amount of areas to focus on and I was already swamped this month with party prep.  Too bad it didn't turn out to be as easy as I had hoped!  But I've made some good strides toward my goal.  

First off, let me give you a little peek at my dining room before I did my much needed damage to it.

 There were four specific areas I wanted to work on.  

1. The toy kitchen corner where everything without a home goes to die.

2. The recipe book shelf and all it's clutter along with the crazy playdoh bin.

3.  The table which has been attacked by cats, kids, and multiple relocations.

4. The desk which has become a magnet for paperwork, techno junk and just about everything else.

So, to start off, I cleaned every surface.  Because I was going to be cleaning a lot, and I didn't want to go through multiple bottles of expensive cleaner, I went the old fashioned way.  With a giant bottle of vinegar.  I also armed my self with the deadliest of tools.  A toothbrush.  I got in all those little cracks and cranies I usually ignore and scrubbed the area clean.  I cleaned everything I could see.  Because I am short, this normally means everything 5 feet and below, but I actually climbed on chairs and foot stools so I could see even higher.

Once everything was cleaned, I was ready to start organizing.  Our toy corner needed serious help.  

Let's se it from another angle.

MAYDAY!

The toys were piling up there and things were piling up on the toys.  It was such a source of frustration.  Don't know where to put something?  Put it in the corner!  It needed some work.  I moved several toys that didn't really have a reason to be in the dining room, and moved them to the basement playroom to be discussed at a later time.  Which will probably be months from now.

Now, you may think, why in the world does she keep a giant play kitchen in her dining room when she has a playroom?  And I have two answers for that.  One, I have nowhere else to put it which you will see when we get to the playroom.  And two, I really enjoy when my kids pretend to cook while I am cooking.  It's a good moment for us so I'm not moving it.

In the end, what I had was this

I was able to fix the area with some terrific IKEA purchases.  I got this great shelf for $15!  On it, I was able to put all sorts of things in a tidy, organized way.  I have my cuter and more used cookbooks easily accessible.  I also picked up these cute dresser bins which you will see popping up all over the dining room.  It comes with 2 big bins, 3 medium bins and 3 small bins for $13.  I found so many uses for these.  For this, the one on the upper shelf holds spaghettio shirts.  And the lower one was perfect for my fun jar and used jar cards!  I also used an adorable candy box I got for Christmas to hold all my kids' Squinkees that my kids somehow think need in their kitchen.  I don't mind now because they are out of sight and no longer rolling all over the place.  I also have a nice lower shelf for kitchen toys that the kids can easily get to and see what they have.  They've already played with this stuff so much more than when it was stashed in the corner! 

Okay, so there are a couple issues still.  The toy grill you saw in the first picture still has no home.  We usually only keep inside in the winter, so it'll be gone in a few weeks.  And you may notice the wall panelling is missing behind the shelf.  That was a home improvement project a couple years ago that we (ahem) started and never finished.  That we will be finishing along with the living room as my February project.  But see how much nicer that corner is now!

Let's see a before and after pic.

Stay tuned for part 2 where I tackle the unsightly recipe book shelf!  Big changes happening there!

Fun Jar Friday #34: Paper Heart Chain

Today on Fun Jar Friday~

Paper Heart Chain

This is not a new idea.  It's been all over Pinterest.  I just thought it was a fun, easy, festive fun jar addition and I was in the mood for a Valentine's activity! I have to admit, I tried making it with felt because I thought it would be classier.  

It was, quite literally, a flop.

So I did a redo in paper like every other blog told me to and it still looks cute!

All you need is come colored strips of paper (mine are 1"x5.5") and a stapler! Super doable, right?

First step, staple two strips of same colored paper together at the end.

Next, bend the unstapled ends over the staple but do not press folded.  Do not staple yet.

Add two strips of your next color so that the ends meet.  Staple.

Now bend the strips over again, add the new color, staple.  Lather, rinse, repeat until you run out of strips or the chain is as long as you want it!

See!  Super easy!  And look how cute it looks!  I just hooked each end around the ends of the curtain rod for an easy window decoration.  My oldest was a little concerned about it being up for his upcoming Pokemon birthday party but I assured him it could be removed.

Sharing @