Personal Progress treats

Just a little idea I did for the girls at church on Halloween Sunday. Our young women are amazing - I just love them!

 Even cuter all in a halloween basket (made by my sis Cathy)!

Mixer Makeover

My friend, Jenni, showed me a cute idea for your mixer. Of course I had to try it with my new cutter :)  I'm thinking of all the different possibilities - especially for the holidays!

Perfect Yum!

I got this recipe off of HowDoesShe? - they have a lot of really fun and great ideas. I wasn't sure how they really would taste so we broke down and made some last night - YUM! 

It's not really an "eat the dough" kind of recipe. The melted butter makes it a little flat rather than nice and fluffy. But the cookies look great since you dip them into chips before cooking. This recipe made about 2 1/2 dozen with the size we made - Happy Baking :)

Happy Haunting

We've been busy decorating for Halloween. I love this time of year when the weather gets cooler and we start getting into the big holiday seasons.  I decided to add some decor in my foyer with my little "Skull Alley" - I call him Mr. Peabody. 

 I've also been using my new Silhouette cutter and making all sorts of Halloween stuff. I cut out the little haunted house scene that's on the mirror (bats, graveyard, house, etc.).

 This is probably my favorite decoration this year - Mr. Peabody printed and framed on my front door! He looks perfect in this ornate frame don't you think? I printed him 16"x20" and he fits perfectly. You can also see I printed him on damask paper in the photo above and stuck him in a frame we usually have a family photo in.

 Here are a few more things I made with my new cutter - these silly ghosts and the word "BOO" on the glass. They are sitting on the cutest runner my sister made for me. She has one listed on her Etsy site - in case you're in need of some cuteness.

 Even the lamps and pumpkin gourd are getting in the spirit!

Sunroom Chairs - FINALLY!

I bought two of these slipper chairs at Pottery Barn last October. I loved the style but not the fabric for my sunroom - you can obviously see I have a garden toile fabric on the French doors that I love. So I when I bought them, I knew I'd be slipcovering them.  I wanted a variety of fabrics in that room so I used four different fabrics in the chairs. I've had the fabric for about 10 months but just now finally sewed them up!

 Here are my more feminine looking chairs in the sunroom. I love the fabrics and now they aren't an eyesore - they're just cute sitting in there calling me to come sit :)

 Close up of the roses on the lumbar pillows with their cute Mother of Pearl button centers.

And this is the back of the chairs - I've closed the slipcovers with big bows made of the cute dotted linen fabric used in the skirt and pillows.

Homecoming 2010 (revised)

Marisa and Kurtis went to Homecoming tonight. Kurtis is a senior so Marisa wanted to make sure it was a really fun memory for him. They got together a bunch of friends to go out to dinner and to the school dance.

They grow up way too fast :( 

(I have to give a shout out to Angie Ward - she did Marisa's hair. I wish I had taken a picture of the back - it was all twisted and had flowers in it that matched her dress - so cute - thanks Angie!!)

Revised....I FOUND A PICTURE :)

 Kurtis' mom said she liked the leg up pose (meaning Marisa's) but Kurtis got in the act too :)

 Allie S., Devin H., Jenni, Kaylyn, and Marisa

 Marisa, Kurtis, Kaylyn, Jerrod, Jenni, Zach, Devin, Jacob, Allie & Kyle 

Wearing the traditional Mums. This crazy tradition is only in the South, I believe. The girls wear these monstrous creations - this is minimal compared to most! The boys wear a smaller version on their sleeve. I don't really understand it but "When in Rome...", right?

Silliness after a joke :)

Halloween is coming :)

This picture is on my sewing blog but wanted to add it into our family blog since Tess is in it.  I had a Halloween sewing night where the girls made a cute ghost garland for their rooms. They also made a funny, crazy, black cat bag for Halloween.

I *heart* sewing with these girls - they are seriously so cute and fun!

I may be too blessed!

Here's another great thing about this week.....

This is seriously the BEST show on TV - 

I LOVE that this show always starts a new season during my birthday week -

I'm such a lucky girl!

Join in my addiction - it's starts Sunday the 26th.

Happy Happy Birthday to me!! :)

Jose has learned over the years that I unfortunately return most of my gifts from him. I figure that I know how hard he works for his money so I want to make sure I get exactly what I would have wanted (had he known better ;)

So to avoid the return trip to the store, keeping track of the receipts, etc., he has learned that cold hard cash is always a very welcomed gift to me from him. So with birthday money this year I'm buying these two new toys - I can hardly wait. My new Bamboo tablet just arrived today - perfect timing! I can't wait to get my hands on it - it's a touch and pen tablet for my digiscrapping and other computer stuff!

Now this gift, the Silhouette cutter, has been calling my name for over a year. This is seriously the BEST cutter out there and it's finally Mac compatible starting tomorrow (and the timing is spot on!).  Unlike other cutters like Cricut, etc, you can cut any font on your computer - NO CARTRIDGES NEEDED!  There are thousands of designs you can download for only .99 cents.  It can do so much - vinyl lettering, heat transfer for clothing, rhinestone placements, etc.  And the detail it can cut is AMAZING!!

I realize that I sound like an infommercial but I've been waiting for a year and a half - finally!

This shirt shows the detail with the scrolls - WOW!

I love this forever banner cut with just a cute dingbat font I already have!

Look at these tiny berries and swirls cut into this cute bird - so delicate!

And this cute fawn and banner were cut with the Silhouette

Tess the Sewing Queen!

Tess started taking my sewing classes this summer. She has always had an interest in sewing but had to wait until she turned nine to take class. She has some natural talent :) She made this American Girl dress, doggie jacket, leash, hair bow, doggie bed and purse tonight with this cute group of girls in my class. I hope it's something she'll always want to do!

New Driver

Marisa and her new car!  She's so excited to finally be driving but we aren't so much ;)

(At least her car has navigation to help her find her way home when she's lost!)

Strawberry Pies :)

Some of our Summer fun - I'm just now getting back to scrapbooking after a very busy Spring & Summer!

Back to School 2010

Sweet 16!

Marisa turned Sweet 16!!

She had a cute party with about 25 school friends and a few from her previous hometown. 

Look at this cake her friends, Devin & Allie, (above) made her - so super cute!!

Marisa with Paige and Cayley
They've been friends since Kindergarten :)

We made an ice cream sundae toppings bar...yum!!

A couple pictures of the table up close

The outdoor tables where we had dinner - her color theme was bright pink, lime green and black (mostly damask patterns)

August 1st

Today would have been Mom's 75th birthday. We've been thinking of her all day and miss her dearly.

Summer Fun!

Yummy Light Bulbs!

I'm Personal Progress leader of the teen girls in our church. This was a cute little light bulb jar I found this summer in Utah - I knew our girls HAD to have these for a little incentive treat!

They're even cuter in a group :)