Never too late for love...

I spent some time last weekend, pulling together pictures of Valentine's Day, getting ready to post a blog and then it happened. I reached for a glass of water, took a sip...and felt a slight tingle in the back of my throat. If I had only known what was next....sigh.

If you've ever had strep throat, my heart goes out to you. I'm not the dramatic type and I'm usually the kind of girl who has to be forced to see a doctor, but I have to honestly say, short of childbirth, I can't remember having to endure such horrible pain with no end in sight and nothing to take it away. If you've never had it, get on your knees and thank the Good Lord...and then stay on your knees and pray that you never do. Any research and energy that our government puts into biological warfare should be stopped immediately. Strep throat...that's all we need. The strain that I had will stop any enemy in their tracks and they won't even begin to feel a tad bit better for more than 4 days.

Ok....enough of that...just wanted to explain my lack of posts when in my heart I really, really wanted to :)

Valentine's Day came and went without much fanfare but that does not mean that it was not thoroughly enjoyed by myself. I always hear people talking about how hard Valentine's Day is for single people and I just don't get it. I absolutely love, love, love Valentine's Day. I enjoy lavishing some love on the people in my life. I love watching people love each other. I love spending time with my friends and giving them gifts that make them feel loved. Are you feeling the love?

Here's a few highlights from my V-day.....

I did lots of Valentine's Day crafting, but took few pictures of what I was making. I know, big sad face, but I wanted to make sure they were done on time so I lost track of what I was doing and was bummed when I realized I had no pictures. I did snap one of this little frame I pulled together. I had some glitter scrapbooking letters, some pink paper and a frame from the 99 cent store (actually 3 frames for 99 cents) and thought it was a simple little piece of decor for my living room. I felt it needed something more so I grabbed a few fabric scraps and made a few rosettes and glued them to the bottom corner and was very pleased with the final product. Simple, inexpensive but so cute. I heart it.

As a single gal, I'm not one of the girls at the office who gets flowers delivered so I bought myself some roses and a few daisies. They made me smile every time I saw them. Dear Michelle, I love you. Love, Michelle

The absolute love of my life is my son Adam. He's a fairly simple boy to make happy. He loves my homemade salsa so I made him his own batch, wrote him a card, threw in some chocolate and he felt the love.

Whether there are boyfriends in the picture or not, my girlfriends and I have a tradition of getting together to celebrate Valentine's Day and lavishing each other with gifts...this year was no exception. From a love monkey and balloon.....to Edward Cullen conversation hearts and sparkling cider...to dietary supplements and giant Reeses Peanut Butter Hearts...the love was not lacking at our table. The lucky patrons of PF Changs heart our laughter, watched us open gifts and witnessed us eat massive amounts of awesome food. It was one of the best years we've ever had and I will never forget it.

So here's to another year of celebrating who we love and why we love them. And may you always have love, laughter, and tiny, naked, glass men hanging from your water glass. Yes, that was another gift from the girls :) Seriously, what's Valentine's Day without them???

I love you all <3>

I heart Target

Who says Valentine's Day decor for your home has to come from Pier One or Pottery Barn...not in my house. Finances are hard on everyone but that doesn't mean you can't bling out your house a little bit to celebrate the loves in your life. Being a single gal, the loves in my life are my family, my friends and my cat...but don't judge...love is love after all. (stop laughing)

When you first walk into a Target, don't rush past the dollar bins. They are seriously my favorite part of the store. Yes there are the lame dollar gifts, but on every trip, I tend to find at least one treasure that makes me smile. These little "I heart U" milk jugs were $2.50 and they were the last ones in the bin. I snatched them up and knew immediately what I wanted to do with them!

I have a ton of felt scraps at home and used some red and pink to cut out a few circles. They don't have to be perfect, just freehand cut in a circle. Once you have a circle, start on the outside and cut a spiral circle toward the center. The arrows show where I started and stopped cutting. Again, it doesn't have to be perfect. It's just you and the felt :)

After cutting the circle, I apparently lost my mind because I thought to myself..."what about making a video about the rest of this?" Seriously, me on video is a nightmare but I did it. Please excuse the poor lighting. Please excuse the sound of Dr. Phil in the background. Just focus on the craft and enjoy yourself. Life is short.

I made two roses in red and one in pink. I had some cloth covered stem wire and cut 3 six-inch pieces. I pushed the stem into the bottom of the rose, put one in each vase and there you have it. Valentine's Day decor for less than $3. There's nothing I love more than a bargain...so it's kind of appropriate. They will spend their time on my bookshelf...next to "The Shack" which gave me a different perspective on God's love and changed my heart....and "How to Know if Someone is Worth Dating in Two Dates or Less"...the book that probably explains why I'm single.

Go ahead, you can laugh at me on that one

Johnny Nash said it best....

What can I say... it has been a while since I've posted anything and that just makes me sad. So sad that I've been gun-shy on how to get started again. Tonight, I figured the best things to do is to just do it. Open my blog and start writing.

I don't know how to explain in words what the last few months have been, but I can say that it felt like a huge rain cloud, with accompanying fog, settling in around me slowly and I didn't even realize it. I'm not sure when it started but I became aware of it slowly as well. I decorated for Christmas, but not my normal, over-the-top, decor. I celebrated Christmas, but quietly and with family. I turned 40, and if my friends hadn't planned an amazing surprise birthday party, I was ready to let that slip by quietly as well. It was part depression, part reflection and part confusion. I'm not sure why exactly but I'm sure some contributing factors were the anniversary of my mom's death, unhappiness with certain parts of my life and family drama.

Regardless... the fog has lifted, the sun is shining, and I am renewed. Not because my problems have disappeared but because my perspective has shifted. I learned some things about myself, my life and my God. I am a work in progress and ready to start the engine again.

I read this quote and loved it... and was immediately hit by how I had been living myself. It struck a cord and I have not forgotten it and live in awareness of the fear that has held me back. But no more. Simply no more. Happy New Year to me.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

~Marianne Williamson

Adorable crafty ornaments!

Wow, it has been a while since I've posted. Between an unexpected trip to the ER via ambulance, a sick kitty and the craziness of Thanksgiving...I have been a little crazed lately. But do not fret...all is well! I am back and I am ready for Christmas!

Last December, I bought my first artificial Christmas tree at the "day after Christmas" sale. It was such a bargain! I knew that one of my goals in 2010 was to set up my craft room in the spare bedroom and once that was completed, I knew that I would be spending most of my time in there. I was right...I rarely leave my craft room because it is my happy place and this time of year, I knew that I was going to want my own Christmas tree to enjoy as I crafted.

Kmart had a huge sale of all Martha Stewart craft-themed Christmas decor and I cleaned them out! Everything on this tree will either be craft themed...or handmade and I am so excited to share the process of decorating with y'all!


This weekend, I put up the tree in my craft room...it was much more work than a real tree but it was worth it...I love the tree! As soon as it was up, I wanted to work on a few ornaments that I had been thinking about for a while and decided to get straight to work!


I had some leftover empty glass ornaments, artificial snow and embellishments from last year. I cut a few pieces out from various pieces of leftover felt and plugged in my glue gun.

I filled the glass with artificial snow and put the cap back on.

I made a set of ear muffs with some pom poms and pipe cleaners...adorable! I used the black felt as the eyes and mouth and the orange for the nose.

Put it all together and you have an adorable snowman ornament! I thought the snowman lacked a little something so of course, I had to take it a step further....because that's what I do.

And I made a little scarf out of some scrap felt and the snowman was complete! I love him!

In a previous post, I mentioned my love affair with the book Falalala Felt and it has not disappointed me in the least! One of my favorite tutorials in the book was this adorable owl! I was able to whip him up in no time and I think I going to make a few more!

I dig his eyelids...they make him look a little sleepy...cuteness!

On a totally random note, I purchased a winter hat for my cat. I seriously cannot stop laughing at this picture. She hates me, I'm convinced...and I think the look in her eyes says, "I hope someone bigger than you forces you to wear stupid things and take blinding pictures of you when they do". But she's adorable...and I could not resist.

Merry Christmas!

Giving isn't always about money

And do not forget to do good and to share with others for
with such sacrifices God is pleased....Hebrews 13:16

It has been an eye-opening experience to participate in the 30-Day Giving Challenge. If you consider yourself a giver, like I do, it can be surprising how challenging it is to purposefully give for 30 straight days. I started this challenge with the hope to think outside of the box and to give in ways that I hadn't ever given before. It would be easy to throw money, as little as you may have, at the desire to give and don't get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with giving money especially because it so needed by so many worthwhile organizations. But sometimes, that is the easy way out.


There comes a point where giving should actually cost something....something that possibly hurts to give. Something that we generally don't give away easily....and that's the challenge that I've issued to myself. My hope was that my giving would be a combination of gifts..money, time, things I don't want to give up. It has been difficult but mostly rewarding...even if only because there were things that I finally just gave to God and said "here, take it".


Have you considered giving in a way that doesn't come natural?


Is there a person who has hurt you and you haven't yet forgiven them? Or maybe you've forgiven them but you've built a huge wall between the two of you so that they can't hurt you again? Consider extending your hand, even in small steps. Take one brick out of the wall you've built. It's a gift you can give to them...and to God.


Is there something that you know in your heart God has asked you to do and you've put it off? Did you know that you can give something to God? He is more worthy than anyone of our giving.


Is there a situation in your life has caused you pain? Did you know that you can be standing in the deepest pain and sing a song of worship to God? It's a sacrifice...and it's an act of giving praise to God even in the midst of a storm. It counts as giving.


I pray that as we approach the midpoint of this challenge that our hearts would be softened to giving outside of our wallet and that we would continue to understand that the gifts of giving far outweigh the cost :)

Crafty Christmas is under way!

I don't know about y'all but it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around Southern California! We don't have snow or any significant seasonal changes, except that Fall usually brings crisp clear days with a chill in the air and you can tell that it's almost the happiest time of the year. Around here, the cities start to put up their decorations and the radio stations start a countdown to Christmas music. As I write this blog, Bing Crosby is singing "The Christmas Song" in my craft room....talk about bliss! wait...it's now the Chipmunks :)

I recently treated myself to "Fa la la la Felt" and am so looking forward to diving into some crafts from that book, but before I did that, I wanted to make some of felt ornaments that have been swimming in my mind lately and have been dying to see them come to life.



I have so much felt, it's not even funny. A whole drawer is filled to the brim with different colors and it's weird because I use them all the time, but still find myself with more felt than one human should own. I grabbed a couple of sheets, my embroidery floss and some basic supplies. I had only made one of these before so the rest were just ideas that I was excited to see come to life as I worked.


The first thing that I wanted to try to make was a cupcake ornament. I have a deep affection for cupcakes and wanted to add a cupcake ornament to my tree this year. I have been collecting bottle caps from my Coca-Cola addiction because I was hoping to turn some of them into tiny pin cushion gifts for fellow crafters so I decided to grab a white one. I used some pink felt for the cupcake itself and a piece of white for the frosting. I sewed a few colorful beads as sprinkles and actually love how it turned out! It exceeded my expectations and I can tell you that I will be making many more in the weeks to come.



I have long since lost the tutorial I used to make these, but last year, I made these ice-skate ornaments for my girlfriends and of course, forgot to make one for myself. I pretty much remembered the important steps and just improvised for what I didn't remember. They are pretty easy to make and come together quickly. I hand stitched the pieces together, stuffed the skate and added some embroidery thread shoelaces. The skate piece is just a paperclip but I think they are adorable. I think I'll make a few more using some different colors but I love the white. White ice-skates are classic.



It was about 11:30 pm when I finished the skates and I still had another ornament in mind. I just couldn't go to bed until it was finished so I grabbed some lime green felt and hand embroidered a snowflake, or what I thought a snowflake would look like :) I have a huge button collection and thought that the white buttons would make great ends to the snowflakes and I think I was right. I used a basic blanket stitch to the close the sides and added a little fiberfill. I'm sure this one will not be lonely as I plan on making a few more.



So that was my Thursday night and I am so happy with the results! I have big plans for a new Christmas tree idea this year and these will definitely play starring roles in the outcome! I am so excited to start my Christmas crafting! I have some painting on my mind so I hope to post the results of that soon....until then...'tis the Season friends!

30 Day Giving Challenge - Check In

It's Day 9 of the 30-Day Giving Challenge and I have to say that it has been an amazing opportunity to step out of the box and give in ways I had never taken the time to do. I don't want to post specifics because that just seems to lend toward "ringing my own bell" and I have zero desire to do that, but I will say that in my giving...I have been blessed.

When I think about my lowest times, they don't even compare to the struggles of people all over the world and even here in the United States. I'm a single mom, always have been since the day my son was born, and it has been a struggle. Educating myself, remaining employed and finding a way to take care of myself and my little human. I am blessed to have had that struggle, and even more blessed to have what I have, despite what I don't have.

Roof over our head - check
Food in the fridge - check
Working fridge - check
Car - check
Health - check
Water - check
Insurance - check
Family - check
Friends - check

The list goes on and on and on.....and on. The least that I can do is give...and give purposefully to what I believe in and what my life stands for.

Join me....it's not too late...it's never too late. It doesn't have to be money...just give. If you're looking for ways to give, here's just a few organizations that I am giving to this month and that I believe in.

Operation Christmas Child
Ornaments 4 Orphans
Salvation Army Angel Giving Tree
Christmas Shoes Project
Christmas Jars