the ugly & the pretty

 THE UGLY

Well, I think it's pretty evident from my last two posts that life has been challenging lately. More specifically, parenthood has been challenging. I'm going to spend one paragraph confessing a few things about being a mom and then move on from this (because I know none of you want to hear the long list of my woes when many of you go through the same kinda stuff...mostly).

I yell. I spank. I threaten. I control. a lot. I also try my hardest not to do any of those things. I have issues with my anger. It is not a light subject for me. When I'm stressed about other things my anger goes up around my children. It is so high sometimes that I wonder if this is really me or someone else. I brought it up to my mom, who suggested that this problem may go deeper...and that I might have some sorting out to do. This is where I am now, and I'm content with knowing that I don't have all the answers. What I can do, for now, is hope for a better tomorrow. I can pray and feel blessed with all that is happy in my life. I can let things go a little more and laugh at my mistakes. I can stop comparing my natural talents to others. I can take a break from social media and focus more on my children. I can snuggle with my kids while watching endless amounts of Disney movies and not feel like a bad parent for letting them watch too much tv. I can ignore all the stigmas about what a good mom is and how perfectly balanced everything in my life needs to be. I AM HUMAN, and I can accept that I am.

ah. that felt good. now moving on!

THE PRETTY

To keep myself sane I have my creative outlets. I go through phases of what I like to do. Some days I just want to sit at my sewing machine all day long, others I feel like taking a million pictures and editing them for hours on end. And then there are really random days where I make a piece of jewelery or try out a new recipe or re-purpose an article of clothing. BY NO MEANS am I doing a stellar job with any of these but its something to keep my right-brain occupied :]

So, if any of you are itching to craft then maybe you can get inspired here. Most of these were very simple, cheap, and do-able in less than an hour.

These are my most recent projects (some of these I made months ago...just haven't gotten around to posting them. oops.)

flannel rag quilt: (see girl version here)

I started this quilt 3 days before T's 3rd birthday and it was nearly done by the time he opened it. I only had some more snipping left to do. It's finally all done and keeping him warm & snuggly at night!

spring wreathe with pearl pins:

I know...spring is almost over. But better late than never! Everything is held together with floral pins- no hot glue required! tutorial here.

burlap & ruffled lace table runner:

The french floral printed burlap was too perfect for our kitchen. I couldn't pass it up!  ( ps-I learned that burlap never goes on sale at Joanns, and when there's a half off coupon out they make it $1 off so you still basically pay full price. So I splurged a little and used a gift card that I had. It worked out nicely that they gave me the remnant for a discount. It's just a tad short for the table, but I also didn't have to pay as much. I'm content with that :D )

eggs in a nest necklace:
(a note with making jewelery: all you really need are some needle-nose pliers with a wire cutter, chain, jump rings, clasps, and beads. If you think you can't do it I promise you can. It is fun and girly- just try it! In high school I made earrings all the time and recently I've gotten into making necklaces. Just as easy but more fitting to my style these days. If you can call it that...ha)

 I wanted to learn how to make these for Mother's Day gifts. I love how delicate it turned out. tutorial here.

crystal pave droplet necklace:

Found this crystal bead in my old jewelery stash and thought it was too pretty to not go on the end of a long silver chain.

colorful tribal necklace:

These beads were on sale and I had to use them on something. I LOVE vibrant and colorful stuff!

woman's plus-sized shirt into pencil skirt:

The shirt is from Goodwill for less than $1. It was an outlet store and everything was in bins. You pay per lb. Since it was a women's shirt the material was a little stretchy- perfect for a pencil skirt!

embellished flip-flops:

My friend Shae has a coupon blog here, and she posted a coupon for .50 flip-flops from Target. I got some black ones and made fabric flowers to stick on them- wallah! You can use any old shoes to embellish.

topiary stands:

These are fake, but they still add a little something to a space. Topiary balls and floral foam are from Joanns. The sticks I picked up outside (haha) and the tin is from Goodwill. I covered the base with moss from the dollar store.

chalkboard dinner tray:

For writing menus, notes, whatever... tutorial here.

The projects below I made at a Relief Society craft night. I love our craft nights! They usually run until 11:30 pm if you can believe that.
sidenote: The activity committee that plans these things is amazing. They have it all set up in stations and then they stay super late to clean it all up. I am so grateful for people who love their callings and do them so well!

quote plaques: sanded blocks of wood with paper mod-podged on top, then a few brass or silver studs hammered into the corners.

chalkboard banner: particle board triangles painted over twice with chalkboard paint and strung with hemp. This was harder to photograph because it was very, very long- but you get the idea.

paper clip earrings: (these are fun to make while watching tv...just wrap a paper clip- bent into a triangle- in embroidery thread and dab some E600 glue every once in a while to keep it in place. the glue can be found at Walmart.)

I got some projects brewing in my mind...FHE board, ties and bow ties, more skirts for myself, headbands for C, more paper crafts, sippy straps and possibly a camera strap...gah! If I do too much at once I get overwhelmed. But it keeps me busy! And it's a good distraction from the stresses of life...

In fact, I should probably be focusing on the mister's birthday that is in 4 days (hence the birthday banner..). I have no idea what to do for him. No plans...he says he will still love me if we do nothing, but I want to show him that he is important to me! To US! He keeps this family together. Ideas?? My mind is a blank slate...