The Sh*t that happens.....

I have been married to my husband for almost 7 years now, so one would think that I would be use to things going wrong every time he has to leave for training or is half way around the world; however, the shock gets me every time. The first time was not even two months after we were married and my husband was deployed. I had just gotten off work at 10 pm and a friend of mine asked me if I would drive her an hours and a half out of town to pick up two girls that had decided to go joy riding and their car broke down. I immediately said no, think it was their own fault for going out in the middle of winter in a crappy car, but then she mentioned that one of the girls had her baby with her. Yes, a baby in the middle of the winter on roads that are not safe... and of all things, a JOYRIDE. My pregnant self was suckered into going to get them when I heard they had a baby with them. 

I must mention that I do NOT have a FILTER and tend to speak whatever comes to mind. I immediately start yelling at the two dumb girls with the baby (they were only 18) and explaining that going for a joyride at night in the middle of winter with a baby in a car that barely works is just plain stupid. After I spoke my mind we got on the freeway to drive home, when all of a sudden my tire blows out and I am forced to exit and end up in a really bad part of Spokane Washington. My pregnant self is outside trying to loosen my lug-nuts so I can change my tire, but they just won't move.... they are covered in ice! No cell phone, parked near a bridge where druggies and homeless people hang out, and scared out of my mind. A cop drives by and stops to tell us that we cannot be parked where we are at, and then offers to push my car out of the way, but does not help me with my tire. Instead he drives away and says someone will be along to help us shortly. NO ONE CAME. A man comes walking out from under the bridge and stops to see what is going on. I tell him and he helps me. In the back of my mind I am thinking he is going to murder me and I am scared to give him my tire iron. For some reason I have more than one tire iron though so I hold onto one for protection while he helps me change my tire with the other one. After he is done I thank him over and over and offer him the only money I have on me $20. He refuses at first, but I insist. I know where he was headed and it saddens me that I couldn't offer him more, he was headed for the homeless shelter. He walks of the street and turns the corner and I load the flat tire into my car and start to leave. Well, I try to leave but my car won't start because the dumb girls had the radio on in the car for over two hours and now my battery is dead. SERIOUSLY!!! I send them out to find someone with jumper cables but when they find someone and bring them back they see a car by me and think that we must have gotten help so the person leaves! No, we did not have help, the person did not have jumper cables. An hour later a security officer from a near by hospital stopped and helped us. I drive the whole way home going 40mph in the snow on icy roads. The girls get dropped off and they don't even say thank you, instead they complain that they should have been back hours ago, if it wasn't for my car. YEP. It took everything in my not to flip.

This is just the first of many... I am convinced that everything happens for a reason, but sometimes I wish that things would happen when my husband is home. If it isn't the car it is bathroom flooding, hospital visits, intruders, dog giving herself an ulcer....etc. I think I should write a book and title it "The Sh*t That Happens". 

Anyone else have this problem? If so please share.

Pinterest Obsession

My obsession with pinterest has become out of control. I can sit for hours looking at all the different ideas for DIY crafts and basically anything else on pinterest. I found myself thinking about storage yesterday and I was considering new storage for our homeschooling stuff. Well one thing led to another and I somehow found myself looking at lego storage ideas and this is what I found:





I think my favorite would have to be the diy desk with drawers. My son's birthday was back in may and he got so many legos as gifts they are just everywhere.

Anyone out there have some more ideas on how to store legos? I am open to suggestions! 

Baby Booties

One of the first things I tried to sew was a pair of Baby Booties for my friend's baby shower. It took me a while to figure it out, but the finished product will look something like this is you follow my pattern:

 Here are the pieces I used to make up the pattern:

Here is what you will need:

*Fabric of your liking

* fleece or other lining

*scissors

*pins

*elastic

Cut out two of each pattern using you print fabric and two using your lining fabric.

Place the heal lining and print fabric together facing each other and sew on the straight edge and then fold them together right side out.

Sew down the sides of the heal piece like so:

Now fold the top down 1/4 to 1/2 of an inch and sew. I like to use a zigzag stitch for added decor.

Trim around the edges making sure everything is even.

Run elastic through the casing that you created with a safety pin. Sew one edge.

Pull the other end until the heal piece is scrunched to your desired taste.

 

Now sew the top fabric with the lining together and then open and fold fabric facing out.

Sew a 1/4 inch line across the straight edge. Again I like using a zigzag. Trim up edges.

Now place the sole lining and sole fabric together with picture facing out and put a small stitch in the top and the bottom. This will help hold the two pieces together when you are sewing the pieces all together.

Now take the sole pieces and sew them to the top pieces with pictures facing each other. I would recommend starting at the top and sewing down to the right and then starting at the left end and sewing to the top (center)

This is what it will look like:

The same steps will follow with the heel piece. You will want to put a stitch through the heal piece and the top piece to hold the ends of the heal piece to the top piece. I recommend doing this on the same area that the zigzag stitching is at for the top piece so that it isn't noticeable.

  

Turn outside right and this is the finished product:

 I am sure there are different ways to make these booties, but this is how I make them. I hope you like it and that it helps someone create something special to welcome a new baby into this world.

If you love them but don't want to make them yourself, you can find booties in many different patterns in my online store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/HappySmiles4U?ref=si_shop

The Room!

I would like to say that I have a great spot that is well organized to do my crafting in; however, it is apparent that as my family grows my space gets smaller. I am currently working out of a closet of sorts. When we rented our house in North Carolina we did so with the intention that our children would be sharing a bedroom, so with the playroom downstairs to hold all their toys I was finally given the spare room upstairs to use as my craft room. Needless to say, my daughter is a bit of a turd and sharing a room with her brother was detrimental to the family's well being (she was 2 at the time). I relocated my room downstairs to a closet of sorts off from the playroom. I say closet of sorts because it has a window and is long and narrow with outlets. It was being used as a reading room/toy storage for my kids prior to becoming my space.  After the extreme downsize I have found it difficult to keep order. This is what it looks like after just one crafting day:

I needed a large working space and could not find a desk or table that suited my needs, so I decided to create my own. I wanted something that had a large top surface, but it also needed to have some type of storage. My desk is two book shelves that I purchased from Walmart for about $12/shelf and the top is a hollowed out door from Lowes that I purchased for $22. I had intended on painting the door a bright color beforehand, but I was too excited to get my crafting started in my new desk so I skipped that step; maybe that will be another project someday. So my crafting table is two desks and a door on the top. It was super easy, super cheap, and has been wonderful. It is easy to take apart and move around, and I have even used it at a craft show. 

I managed to create a space for my children in my craft room as well. They love being in the room with me when I am working on something so I made them a adding corner where they can look at books or put puzzles together. Here is the space after an few minutes of them being in there:

Just another crazy mess to add to my crafting madness. 

It my be small, but it is my space. It allows me enough room to create unique items that people will love, and to me that is all that matters. I just hope that my next move allows me to keep a window and that I will not be working and my kitchen table.

Here are a few more pictures of what it looks like somewhat clean:

A shower curtain rod to hang my finished products from.

  

Desire to Create

As a child I was very fortunate to have lived a simple life in the country full of outdoor adventure and play. We did not have a lot of money, but that never really bothered me. I found joy in recreating hand me down clothes to make them my own, and diving straight into anything creative; like pottery, painting, crochet, and so much more. My husband's Army career has taken us far from that life, but my desire to create is stronger than ever. I find inspiration through my children; they are always asking me to make them things ranging from super hero costumes to princess tutus and dresses. I have been very lucky to make items for so many different people all over the world; whether it was a welcome home ceremony tutu for a little girl in Italy, a baby bib for a baby in Australia, or a dress for a little girl in Georgia..... I have been inspired by all of them.

                 Pheasant Dress I made for my daughter.