24 Days until Christmas!

I have been following many blogs about crafting over the past year and a very popular craft to make this time of year is the advent calendar. They are making them out of cups on sticks to sewing each individual square onto a quilt. Talk about time consuming...although very cute and it makes a great decoration. So two days ago I was at the commissary and there they were - advent calendars. I remember in first grade when my teacher brought the advent calendar to school and said for everyday one child would get to open the cardboard flap and get a piece of chocolate. I could not wait for it to me my "special" day. It's funny how excited our class got over a $2 advent calendar...oh the simple times were the best :) So I picked one up for Bailey and this morning we hunted down the number and opened the cardboard flap - she was excited to eat a piece of chocolate at 6:45 AM.

Christmas Decor

I put up our Christmas Tree over a week ago. I didn't have anything to do and I wanted to relax on my Thanksgiving break. I finished the red stocking for our front door (ribbon holes were put in later). I would have made it with polka dots but Blake said, "No. You put polka dots on everything." Yeah, I might but it is for other people! So here is the plain red stocking. Merry Christmas!!!

Black Friday 2010

This year I have already purchased/made everyones gift by mid November so I didn't NEED to go shopping for Black Friday. In fact I was making up stuff I needed just to go. I took a few orders from friends and family and met my sister in Prattville at 4:45 AM meaning I got up at 3:30 AM to be there on time. It's family tradition to us to go shopping the day after Thanksgiving and so I have to go with family. My dad and family started this about 12+ years ago! It's crazy to think we have been doing it that long. We are usually in Georgia with the entire Whitehead side but this year my little family stayed home to be with my husband's family.

We get to Wal-Mart and find out people have been there since 10 PM the night before for the TV's and Laptops! That is crazy yet awesome to me. I would do it if I had like 3 girlfriends with me...just stay up all night leaning against the cereal talking about everything. However I still got what I was going for...Shark Steam Mop! WOW! I used it last night and it made mopping fun! Who knew?! Plus my floors sparkle and it requires no chemicals! Good Buy Swifter wet jet...you have been replaced. I also got Bailey some new pajamas $4 for the set! Pretty awesome deal. Also I got a candle set for $5! They smell Amazing.

Next on to Office Depot for ???? I have to keep it a secret. They did not open until 6 and my sister had to get that item and she was only about the 15th person in line. I did not want to wait and miss out on my Target deals so I went solo. Target is such a big store to conquer by your lonesome but I was on my way. I wanted the 3 sets of the 700 count sheets, the 7 princess doll set, binoculars, Tom Tom, 32" TV, Princess Game, Whack-A-Mole Game, Chenille blanket, and some $1.99 movies. Well they were sold out of the king size sheets so I could only get 1 set of queens for us, I got the princess set, and both games...everything else was sold out! I looked everywhere and couldn't find the stuff! On a side note - the Prattville Target has the sweetest people ever working there! I must have had 7 people help me find things...most of which were sold out. They were so nice to have been up all night long and there was no wait in the lines. Now I know I have to go to Target close to the opening of time or they will be sold out - I got there at 5:30 and they opened at 4:00.

Next I went and picked up my sister - good news she got her item! Woo hoo! Then we went to Belk and JCPenny for some major steals! My sister went home and then I met up with two great friends for breakfast to recoup and head out again! I went to Shoestation, Bath & Body Works, Hobby Lobby, and Joanns. I made it home around 11:00 AM in time for lunch. The next day I went back to Target and used my $10 gift card they gave me the day before to purchase the chenille blanket I couldn't find on Friday. It was another successful Black Friday!

New Hobby - Wooden Door Signs

I have been seeing a few "friends" on Facebook getting into making adorable door signs and knew I had to give it a whirl. I love decorating so why not have a door sign for every holiday/season! So I started looking up door signs on different websites and clip art that I could draw out and came up with a few fun designs for Christmas and Baby Shower Presents. There are a few more I am working on right now that I love but they are not ready to be shared :) What I love about this hobby is it's fun to do....maybe not the cutting and sanding part but the painting is fun. I love that I can do it in my living room while watching TV and being with my family at the same time. Bailey and I talk while I paint while she is playing or watching one of her shows. So this is the beginning of one of my favorite new hobbies.

I made this present for my wonderful parents with a vinyl "W".

I made this stocking for my fabulous In-Laws with a vinyl "M".

Roll Tide Elephant on our front door. I love this little guy :)

(I tested the staple gun out on a scrap peice of wood, but I pressed too hard on the elephant and the bumps came out! Oh well...you can't tell from a distance!)

Bunco Ornaments for 2 Bunco games coming up with ornament exchanges.

Baby Gift for Little Will.

Baby gift for Isabella and Little David.

Baby Shower Project

I have been very busy the past few weeks getting ready for my good friend's baby shower. I made 2 bibs, two diaper cakes, "D" & "I" painted letters, 2 little stuffed elephants, 4 dozens cupcakes, 23 blue and pink elephants with "S" on them (forgot to take pictures!), some fabulous strawberry limeade punch, and a wooden green elephant to hang on the door. Here are my creations for her shower!

Christmas Card Pictures

Last year for Thanksgiving I wanted to make my mom some family Christmas card pictures for her to send out. So this year I rounded up the family once again for the Whitehead/McArdle Christmas card. After canceling with the photographer once and then moving the dates and times around more than twice I canceled the photographer again. I was like, "It's just not going to happen." Well then it was back on but I decided to take the photos and get my sister's bf to help with the group photos. My sister-in-law and I went and scoped the areas I wanted the pictures taken and wrote down our ideas so it would go faster before the crew arrived. The pictures really did turn out good...great even for a 3 1/2 year old digital camera. I was a tad frazzled and jumpy during the process but my family forgave me for my bossiness as they always do. So I saved a little $$ and we finished in less than an hour...not bad for my first photo shoot :)

Merry Christmas from the Whiteheads & McArdles

Crafting on a Budget

For the past two weeks Blake has been looking for a job. The 3 month orders he was going to get were not funded. It was a shock at first but we are doing great. Nothing is in our hands and I can't control anything so I'm trying not to worry about it. In the mean time we have been cutting out our spending. We are bagging our lunches, eating dinners at home, spending more time at home, accomplishing more projects, I dyed my hair brown to avoid the $80 highlights due this week and in another 8 weeks after that... It's been good changes and we are adjusting. It's unfortunate because he loves flying and there isn't anything available in that field right now so he is going to go back to the banking industry or some other job until pilot school (fingers crossed and prayers...lots of them). So over the past 2 weeks I have deleted my emails about the "new clothes that just arrived this week!" I have cut back on my trips to Michaels, HL, and JoAnns and I am making things out of fabrics and materials I already own. I have made 2 elephant stuffed animals with ribbon tags, 3 bibs (still in progress), 2 Christmas shirts for Bailey, and painted a few other things with paint I already had. I have also been using the mess out of that cricket! Wow! I knew I would love that thing once I started using it. I didn't know it could make those cupcake flags until last week so I made 40 "S" flags for the baby shower I am co-hosting this Saturday for my good friend who is having TWINS. I had been busy knocking out projects for that as well (Painted Letters, 2 diaper cakes, 40 elephant cookies, 40 cupcakes...). And then there is the monogram machine still sitting in the box in the corner of my craft/spare bedroom. I use it to organize my cricket creations...so it is getting some use :) So it's not so bad not having money to do things as long as you fill your time up with things you love like family and craft projects. Bailey loves "helping" me with crafts so I'm trying to do some things she can "help" me with.