Vegmom Moments

Happy Valentines Day

Vegkid and I usually do cards (with scraps and recycled material) or hand made paper games to distribute at school for Valentines day.  

But this year, neither of us were in the mood and wanting to do something new.  Insert Crafty Crow, where we found This idea... Veg Loved It!

Since Husband was all in to working in the garage last week, (and being overly nice) I showed him the idea.  Of which he replied,

"I have a perfect limb for that.  It fell from the tree in our last storm.  You'll have them cut tomorrow"

And so we did!  24 of them to be exact!  

Veg kid didn't want to decorate fancy (he is a BOY and turning NINE ya no!)  EX-Cuuuuuseeee me!

But since Husband said he had to "practice" to find the right pen... I got one too!

*smile*  

Happy Valentines Day!!

 

Magnetic Fridge Card Holder Made From Scraps in 5 Minutes

I'm in a de-clutter Frenzy.. seriously, I'm just realizing more and more every day how much I don't need so much of the stuff in our home.  And how much happier I am when I get another spot organized, cleaned or de-cluttered.  I still have so far to go, but taking one step at a time and being happy for each accomplishment.

Tonight, I was looking at my fridge to find magnets with restaurant numbers, dental reminder cards, papers upon papers with work numbers or tidbits of information or crafties or pictures!!!! AHHHHHHH.... like 100 things collected on my fridge.  Where did all this come from???

I stared at the fridge and just wanted to throw everything in the garbage. 

That space was suddenly driving me nutty!  Then it hit me... I could make a holder for all of that stuff.

Quickly, there was a piece of card board being cut and folded, a piece of paper being cut to match.. paper was stuck to cardboard, and wrapped around the back.  

The back got a magnetized heavy duty clip to hold it to the fridge and EVERY piece of paper or advertisement went in to my new holder.  

Within 5 minutes this cute little Perfect Magnetic card holder was on my fridge!!!  NO MORE CLUTTER!

 

As for the pictures, I moved them from the fridge to my craft area which also happens to have a magnet board.  PERFECT!!!

 

Lighted Christmas Tree Craft

I was inspired by this ikat bag post and couldn't resist giving it a try (Thank you ikat)!  

Yes, I know it is supposed to be for kids, but no one would play with me today, sooo here is the result of my craftiness:

What an Awesome center peace for our Christmas Eve Table!!

Merry Christmas Eve Everyone.....

Crafts and Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Hubs asked for Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Bars for his birthday.  But when his Birthday came, he ordered a cupcake instead.  

A few days later, he reminded me that I neglected to make the Choco Peanut Butter Bars. 

And far be it from me to turn down Chocolate:

Here is the recipe I use, but Veganised.  I've seen many more similar recipes since, but that is the one I wrote down long ago, and have continued to use.

While the family was chowing on this Chocolate Peanutty Goodness, I was busy grabbing them to help me with crafts.

Lots of Cards were made and a calendar was completed, see here!

Hubs made me these shorts from an old T-Shirt:

This mess had to be cleaned:

It was a week full of Chocolate and Crafts, aka FUN... I'm not complaining.

12 Days of Changes - Day 4

I used to enjoy crafting.  It was my outlet, my peace among chaos, my joy among loneliness and a time to reflect.  By working on a Scrapbook Page, I was reliving the events of those pictures.

But not just scrapbooks, looking back I did a WHOLE lot of crafting.  From Cross Stitch to painting to Silly stuff with my kiddo but at some point, lugging everything out became a chore.

I don't know when it happened really.   But one day.. It had to be just one, because I don't remember multiple days.. but one day, I just stopped.  

Until my Change for Today....  I realized that I don't have to sit for 6hrs through the night when everyone is sleeping just to work on crafts.  Or that I have to to do everything from scratch or make things complicated.  I realized it doesn't have to be a chore.  I could make crafting fun again.

Then I made a stop in to Hobby Lobby for a couple of supplies... WOAH!!  Big Mistake.. I didn't even know where to begin.  I saw sooooo much stuff.  But I kept my purchasing simple.  Things that would make my crafting life easier.

Like THIS 12x12 Calendar Kit for a certain someone that gets a calendar each year.

It has all the colors I love, themes I could relate too, and absolutely EVERYTHING you could possibly need to complete the calendar all in one handy package.  (except family pictures of course)

So my Change for Day 4 is to do something Crafty.    No more wishing I did, but actually DOING it!

As for the other Changes...so far:

Day 1 = Avoid coffee for a day (done)

Day 2 = Check house for Fire Safety (done)

Day 3 = Exercise (done)

This is kind of fun.. I should make this longer than 12 days.  Heck, it could be 365 days.   Who doesn't find one thing each day they want to do different or more of.  That is what Growth is all about, right?

It all comes down to this...

If you don't do something about it, then you got nothing to complain about!  (or so that is what I tell myself when i'm complaining)

 **Update**  I made some cards.. lots of cards.. crafting bug is back!!

Aren't these guys cute:

 

Summer 2011 Around the World Part 1

When Veg was younger we started a Spring Break tradition, of "What in this whole world would you like to learn about"  He has come up with some doozies, as you'll see here...

So when we were outside playing on his last day of school, I said "So, what would you like to do this Summer?"

And he said "Go around the world?"

<Hmm? Really>

"Yup"

Well its not Spring break, and we do have Alllll Summer... I guess we could make that happen???????

So we packed our bags and our imaginations, for a Summer full of travel.  He spun the globe and our first stop is Sudan... Yeah SUDAN... Couldn't pick like Alaska, or Spain, or Australia... Nope.. He Picks SUDAN...

Woah... I can do this.. I'm up for the challenge.. Yes Sir'ry... I can do this!!!  I was thinking Rainforest, or Safari.. the Animals, the Habitat... Ummmm No!

Started looking up Sudan, and man oh' man that place has a story to tell, something we can all learn from!  Thankfully I found some kid info... so I decided to base our tour on what we learned about kids in parts of Sudan that work and go to school at young ages.

They are up early squirrly collecting stuff for the family.  They work until 7am and if they are lucky head off to school... then they work after school.. Their homes are called "Tukuls"  Made out of Mud, Thatch, Dung and Bamboo..

Well I didn't have bamboo and didn't want to use dog dung, but I had some ideas on making our own miniature Tukul.

The kids in The part of Sudan carry things on their head... So the first part of our day was Veg carrying a bucket on his head full of bananas:

We piled it up heavier, and he walked back and fourth to the village (kitchen)..

Next thing we did was go outside to find a rock, as we found out that they paint their dreams and thoughts on giant rocks.  (ours isn't giant, but you get the idea)

On our mission to find rock, we also found this.... Awwww.....

We then collected leaves and weeds and small rocks for grinding.  We figured they don't have paint like we do, so we had to find things around the house that would work for "paint"

The grinding didn't go so well, and we cheated with some kale juice. 

Veg said "we should buy them all juicers" when he realized how dificult things would be for them.

Here is my rock painting:  :-)

We used herbs, berries, and plants.. eventually beet juice, Here is our mess:

We used leaves for paint brushes, and also whittled a stick in to a "brush":

Here is Veg's Rock:

Then we used paper towel as pretend fabric, and began using our herb/fruit/greens concoctions to make some colorful "wraps":

Veg was having so much fun with our "Painting" that he asked if we could do more.. Out came the paper and beet juice:

Here are our beet juice paintings:

 

This is supposed to be me with a lot of smiles, going for a run, a bicycle ride, and the treadmill..

The one he made for hubby was the man sitting on a giant couch with a game controller... I won't post that one :-)

And here is the dog running after his bone.. with bunny in the grass and paw prints.. yes.. that is what it is supposed to be... haha

After all our painting fun, Veg decided we will do that with left over juice from Mrs. Juicer in the future...

Then it was time to make a Pan.  We learned that they make their own pots and pans from cutting tin cans, making handles, and sometimes sell at market..

We decided we weren't going to cut the can or use solder to put the handle on because Hubby wasn't as enthused as we were and didn't want us using his tools... So we used my Craft supplies along with nut/bolt and wall clamp thing.

Here is our Pot:

And our lid:

 
We talked about all the things they could use this for.. And also learned that they make their own lanterns this way.  So we made a very pretty lantern:

We also used it as a "ladle" to get water from the Well (hose)...  That was Veg's favorite part.  But when he spilled the water, it was a great opportunity to talk about lack of water in other countries and how spilling the water would be so horrible.

For the rest of the day he watched how much water he used around the house, even took a short shower.

BUT - before the shower, we used all the water collected along with some Hay and Mud/Clay from the yard to make our Tukul.  Sure it looks nothing like theirs... But it really made the Vegman appreciate how hard they work to build their homes, and how awesome it is to have the home we do.

So that was worth every bit of this day:

And we attempted to weave a door, but it fell apart:

This little house took a very LONG time to put together, but Veg had to use his brain to figure out the best way to get the dirt to stick together, and how to get the hay to attach.  We found creepy crawlies, had some great discussion, and really enjoyed this project.

Once we were done, we couldn't let the "Pan" go to waste, so I asked Veg what he would like to do with it, and he suggested a watering can for his flowers... OK!  A couple more holes it is!

Mission Accomplished:

Our trip to Sudan so far has been a great one.  We have a few more adventures to finish off the week, and Veg keeps asking for more, so I'm excited this day was such a success.

His Journal is filling up  with everything he learned, and this drawing of the flag finished up our day:

Now I can only imagine where we will go next... First we have a few more things to finish up in Africa.  Then we will fly somewhere else...

Stay tuned!

 

 

 

How I Spent My Saturday Night

Our school asked for Volunteers to help with Yarn...  I took a couple bags... and then went back for more, thinking it wouldn't take so long to do...

Yeah, well...I was wrong..... My FINGERS are sore!!!

Eventually, I took one pack over to Hubby and said here... We volunteered to do this...

"What do you mean we?"

Hee Hee...

 

 

Recycle Reuse Fort

I posted Here about getting a Screen/Glass Door...  Well that night, Hubby mentioned the box for Said door would make an awesome Fort...

The Vegman Agreed...  I had no idea what those two had been plotting... Yes the box was big... But really DID NOT realize HOW big!!

Until I came home to this:

Veg, came up with the Supply list.. Hubby drew what ever was asked of him, and Veg colored in the pictures.  The thing is pretty Awesome if I must say so myself.

They used Veg's Plastic Nuts and Bolts to hold everything together and enforce the frame.

The "Door Bell" is some jingly bells that my crafty friend may remember from a few years ago.

The Roof is an old Fitted Crib Sheet

The Door Handles are old tires from a building set....

It even has a Peep Hole...to check for Parents:

I see you in there!!

The Side is decorated with everything he wants in our garden but can't have:

Window boxes with flowers, Bird Bath, Bumble bees, Mountains in the distance, Lattice up the side...

You can click the picture to see their handy work.

But Even the windows open.. and my Pup loves to look out the windows:

Yes, that little blue bolt is holding the "Lock" because all windows and doors need locks.

We have to knock and get permission before we can enter, because this is VEG's Spot!   All Seven year old boys need a "spot" right?  Or maybe just mine... I dunno!

Recycling and Reusing at its finest!! 

Sometimes the Hubby can drive me to drink (Coffee and tea) but times like this... He AMAZES me!!  :-)
 

 
 

Around the world Bday Gift

My Crafty Friend out did herself this year for Veg's Birthday, and I just realized that I never posted about it.

Around his big day he received A "Suitcase" made out of wood and decorated with travel theme.  A large (very large) laminated world map and a bunch of stuff from Japan. 

Origami, Making his own stamp set, information, activity sheets and pass port stickers.  (which he put inside his suitcase)

Well to his surprise a few weeks later, in the mail came another Country worth of activities.  It was the Netherlands...  And with that came a mushroom change bank, some weaving basket activity paper, and other fun activities.  Along with information packets of course.

It seems to be the Birthday gift that keeps giving... and yet it is soooo educational.  We've all learned a lot... And Veg is Loving his "Suitcase"  he now has stickers on the outside and inside.....and pulls it out all the time to do "work"

Thank you Crafty Friend!!!!

 

 

Traveling Duo and Some Raw food goodness

Sooooooo... There was a trip... to Michigan!  Just me and my Boy!  And man was it a great one!! 

My Hubby didn't make this trip but the only thing I knew he would miss was my Green Smoothies.. So I made him a "Smoothie" Card with recipe inside.... And not only did he make smoothies for himself, but he took some to friends.

(ignore my hand cut blender please)

 

I actually left him about 15 different cards through out the house..So he wouldn't be sad that we weren't home.  (Told you I was busy last week) but he found almost all of them before we even left... Stinker!

Then it was time to Pack up the car...  and head out... 

The Mountains looked like Erupting Volcanoes with Clouds and Fog in the distance:

 

And the rain hit us on the other side of those mountains... but nothing too terrible....

We Stopped at a coffee place to rest my weary eyes along the way.   And they had this sign in the window.. So I figured I was welcome:

The rest of the trip was supposed to go along with my theme of no plans.. But then I made plans... And then none of them worked out as planned.

Day Light Savings threw me ALL off and we ended up leaving the house later then "planned"  From there, everything else just took a turn for the better!

Plans set for at least 5 people from hubby's family all shifted, and left me with extra open time to be with my Friend... Our trip ended up being 90% my family including my bestest oldest friend! 

We went shopping which was HUGE Fun.. As in shopping from lunch time through Dinner time in one day just us girls.  I discovered that my hiney fits in to a pant size that I haven't fit in since 16 years old.... Granted I'm just a "little" more jiggly then when I was 16... (just a little... really)

And my friend decided to make me dress like a grown up.  She found me the cutest tops (all cotton of course) to go with the bottoms I picked... I even found a pair of Organic Cotton Capri's.... LOVE THEM!!!  

We found a whole years worth of clothes for the Vegman at some outlets, and did a whole lot of talking! So much fun..

The food on this trip was The best...

Lots of these (thanks NeeNee):

 

Some of this:

 

Red Pepper Deli in Northville Michigan has the BEST Food... and my friend even decided to join me for some Raw Goodness.. (And she liked it!)

I had some Raw Bread and Seed Cheese for the first time!  It was quite tasty!

 

The best part was, the owner remembered me *smile*  And seeing how far they've come with Raw food Challenges, Organic food Co-ops, and classes since the last time I was there, is really exciting.  

We also tried a couple smoothies and a raw brownie for dessert!  Yum Yum Yum!!!

My Mom assisted with a Green Smoothie morning:

 

We also went to Tomato Bros. which I'd been told was the best Pizza in town:

It was pretty darn good!  My friend and I split a Veggie pizza (mine without cheese)  And a very yummy salad..

Most of my other food was either Salad, Fruit or Raw Veggies on Pita...

OH... I even got some yummy treats at this place.... I SOOOO NEED ONE OF THESE IN MY TOWN:

And was told that I couldn't leave Michigan without a coffee drink from:

The coffee drink was quite tasty, I must say!  BUT even better was the company... My friend and I sat out on the patio in the sunshine for  hours, and just talked and talked....

While Veg got some extra time with his NeeNee at an Arcade:

 

Veg spent so much time with his NeeNee this trip... and went to the park, arcade, out to eat.  They read books with Grandpa C, and played in the yard.  He also got to play putt putt and visit with our friends, and visit with another set of grand parents.  

He also got to visit the Baby Dog (that isn't a baby):

 

We went here, which the picture doesn't do justice and it was the biggest indoor playscape I've ever seen.. As you can imagine my germ-o-phobe tendencies kicked in, but I put them on the back burner so he could have fun with his grand parents.   And fun he did have!

 

To finish up the trip, we stopped off at Luna Pier on our way home, so Veg could see one of the Great Lakes from his book...  

The Sun was just beginning to come up and the air was chilly, but it was a Great moment.  He was Sooooo excited to see Lake Erie that he had read about.  And EVEN said "This is the best day ever"  :-)

 

To make this stop even more special, this Biker Guy that lived near the Pier saw us and our out of state tags.  He came out and gave Veg a toy Motorcycle to play with on his trip... (a BIG one too)

Normally I would fear a stranger walking up to us in 1/2 day light in an empty parking lot.  But there was a peace over this fella.  And normally I wouldn't take a toy from a stranger, but knowing I had many many hours ahead of us, and my Vegman was very sad to leave his grand parents, I made the executive decision to allow the toy exchange.

Thank you Mr. Biker Stranger... You really did make our day and also showed us that the kindness of people is out there, big and strong!!

Then... my Mom sent me a link to this place in Cincinnati Ohio.. I stuck the address in our Garmin and Off we went!

At the Loving Cafe, I LOVED THE FOOD!!!  The name was quite fitting!  Not only Vegan, but to my surprise, many raw dishes too!

I decided to try a Raw Pizza, which came with a salad:

 

OH MY YUM!!!  I need a better dehydrator.  That Pizza "bread" was soooooooooo good!  And the salad dressing... Really did I say OH MY YUM!!!!!!!!

Thinking this will be our new Adventure Plan... Where we go, we shall find good Vegan and/or Raw Treats!

At this place we found both.  Veg had a Vegan Grilled Panini Sandwich and a smoothie.  While I had my Raw goodness.  Then we both split a piece of Vegan Chocolate Cake and called it a day....

That was all she wrote!  The boy slept in the car for the next 3hrs.  And I went in to an Energy zone, to get us home.. Speed limit of course *wink*...

It would be many more hours before we made it home, but Ahhhhhhhhhhh.... Home we are... There were those mountains calling me... Hello there!!

So there it is... the Adventures of a Traveling Veg duo.... Lots of fun, lots of relaxing, some GREAT food, some GREAT Shopping, the kindness of strangers and some great weather, and getting home safely...

What more could a girl ask for???  And as for the Vegman?  HE LOVED his birthday present.. But asked if we could fly next time.  HA!  Said that driving stuff is for the birds! *smile*

Sweet Card

A while ago, I made this card for Hubby, just because, and set it on the counter with his coffee pot for early morning viewing.

The other day, I noticed the card, and so I stuck it in the fridge with his Morning Smoothie, so he would see it when he woke up.   He told me that when he sees it now it brings a smile... so I planned to leave it hiding for more days to come.....

It says "Have I told you lately.... I love you" and a hand written note on the inside....

 

Well, tonight when I got home, look what I found on my pillow:

 

He went through my Card making stash, found stamps, inks, punches, scissors and made this cute little card...

I'm beyond impressed..... Even the little flowers in the little circles... hee hee... And the hearts for the corners.... he went all out!!   And his note on the inside is Sooooooo sweet... he even used my scrap paper, rather then dipping in to the full sheets.

And And And, he cleaned the stamps, and put everything back where he found it....

Awwwww, I think he loves me!  *smile*

ALBUMS AND THE WEB

I finally figured out why I'm not so Gung-ho to fill my scrap book albums with pictures anymore...

There was a time that I'd get the pics developed or printed as soon as I took them.  Had nothing else to do with them except get them in an album.  I rarely got more then a few months behind.   It was a two step process....

Sometimes if there was a really good event, I'd get doubles printed and send them to family.  Maybe a three step process...

But now... There is the Web... There are blogs... There is Email....blah blah blah...

So I started purposely taking pictures that fit on the blog with a caption already in my head...  I take family shots that would be Perfect for our Family photo blog.   With both of those comes editing/cropping/saving.... Emailing family and friends (only those that apply to them)  More organizing...

I get a few shots worthy of printing for family, have my Mom's yearly handmade photo calendar to think about, print a couple for frames for other family members.  And all that requires editing, cropping, printing, saving... And all gets done.

Then, I have to sort on my PC what goes where, keep track of the ones I print and file them in the right folder.   I have to keep everything organized for my sanity.  This takes time. 

Remember... I'm doing this ALL YEAR long!

Next step is to print  the highest quality shots of each event for my albums.

Once printed, those album pictures go in to a holding area and are sorted by date.  So when I'm ready to work on albums they get entered correctly.

And finally if/when time allows, I'll sit down and work on some Scrapbook pages.  But for some reason, by the time I print all those pics, I just don't find the time to put them in Scrapbook pages.

Hmmm, I wonder why?

ACTIVITIES VS. CRAFTS

My Vegman was always one to do crafts with me... I could sit for hours and work on things while he worked on things beside me.   Or we did things together... I was always looking for the next cool and easy project...

And then something happened... he got older... Now he says "I'm too old to do crafts Mom"...

Well Phooey!!  Fine, be that way!!  (stomping feet with a pouty face).....  So we haven't done them for a long time.

Then my Friend says the other day "You have to call them activities!"  Oooooh good idea friend!  Thank you so much!

And so today, I suggested we do "Activities"  and Veg said, "Sure Mom, I'm not too old for those"

Yippeee!!  And so we did crafts.. I mean "Activities" for a long time.... It was quite fun!

Wonder what other things we could do if I just changed the words a bit?  Hmmmmm... (wheels turning in brain)

SHIRT AND GARDEN UPDATE

Last week I tried to make a Natural Dye Free Tie Dye Shirt for the Vegman.... It looked Really cool...

See Here:

 

But I wasn't sure if the stains would stick after being washed.  So I let it set out for 7 days. 

Then yesterday I washed it in Cold water only... and put it in the Dryer...  Surprisingly the "Turmeric" Yellow/Orange stayed great.  The Grape Juice and Cherry Juice, Not so much:

 

 

I still think it looks pretty cool.. .. Veg, doesn't like it... If ONLY YELLOW was still his favorite color, I would have been all set!

So if you ever want a yellow/orange only tie dye shirt the Turmeric worked great.  IF you want other colors, I can't help ya!  But am on a mission... if I find other things that work, I will let you know.  Smashed blueberries are next on my agenda.

As for the Garden:

Yeah well, I got Nuthin but Carrots...

Here is one I picked yesterday, very baby carrots... but maybe I can use the greens for smoothies *smile*

 

Hey Hubby did try for me, gotta give him that much... Next year, I shall take over the garden my way... And see what we come up with.. We still have the space, just have to do a few things different?

I don't know like maybe, waiting till after the freeze to plant the seeds, and possibly seed them in side first like all the directions say, and maybe, put down some soil and compost and... OH don't get me started!!!

Poor lonely Garden, pretty much looks like this still:

HANGING TOWEL HAND MADE

A Hanging Towel.... By far THE COOLEST THING VEG EVER MADE ME.....

Here is the story... 

This morning when putting laundry away, I found this old hanging towel that has seen better days..

 

I told Veg, that I wish I had more of them because we would probably use a lot less paper towel, if we had some more of these handy....

"Well Mom" he says, "I can make you some, I learned how to sew buttons at my Montessori school"

He proceeded to tell me that he could do 2 hole or 4 hole buttons and just needed some supplies.  Here was his list:

• Cloth (I gave him an old burp cloth)
• Button
• Scissors
• Needle
• Thread
• And something for the loop (old T-shirt Piece from our rag bag)

We rounded up the supplies, I left him alone and got this:

 

 

In case you need a closer look:

 

OK, so the BEST part of this whole thing, is that Veg is now the Paper Towel Police..... 

"Dad, you don't need paper towel in the Kitchen, if you just washed your hands, use the hanging one and save a tree"

Seriously, he said that.... and all night long...  "Don't forget to use the towel and save a tree"

I am soooo loving this towel...  And made out of totally Reused/Recycled goods!

He put Extra knots to make sure it would last through the Laundry Machine when needed... Hopefully it will last us a long long time!

DYE FREE TIE DYE

Ok, I know this belongs on my Crafty Blog But it was way too cool not to post here...

Veg has been asking for a new Tie Dye shirt since he's outgrown his other ones.  And I just didn't' want to do the whole Dye thing....

Today it dawned on me that if we could make Dye free Play Dough, Surely we could make Dye free Tie Dye shirts...

And so I grabbed a plain white shirt of his, add a couple rubber bands, and filled up three plastic cups.  one with Grape Juice, one with Cherry Juice and the other with Turmeric Powder mixed with water.

We dunked and doddled....  until we were happy with the colors...

 

And this was the final result:

 

An entirely cool, Dye Free Tie Dye shirt!!! 

My plan is to let it sit for 7 days.  Then try to wash with cold water only... My hope is the stains will set and keep at least SOME of the color....  Because I don't use Bleach washing detergent, I'm hopeful that the color will stay long enough for him to enjoy his new Tie Dye.

Anyone know how to purposely set a stain!  ha ha... I'll keep you posted...

Ps.  If this actually works we will be doing LOTS more of these... I'll even make one for myself... Going to try to mash up some Blueberries for mine.... and maybe mixing the blueberries with turmeric would give me green?

ETSY?

Do you sell on Etsy??  I know two people that are thinking of selling their crafty creations, and have never really looked in to it myself.... Of course I have nothing crafty to sell, which is part of the reason...

Those I know that have purchased, have had great experiences too though.. I'll have to check it out...

So do you sell on Etsy?  What do you sell?    or do you have a favorite store that you buy from? Feel free to post your links in the comments...  I don't have many viewers but someone may happen upon this and see you.

P.S.  My comments are making your names not clickable, so you'll have to actually put your link in the comment itself... sorry for the mix up, they are supposed to be fixing that shortly... 

CRAFTS CRAFTS AND A TOWEL WRAP

I'm back to posting on the Crafty Blog, probably won't be consistent, since I don't have as much time as I would like to craft... but tonight I'm making up for lost time.  Including Dye free play dough, a gift from Hubby, some cards and more....  Be sure to look... 

Vegmom Craft Idea Exchange

PEAS AND TOOTHPICKS

Who needs building blocks or expensive erector sets when you have Toothpicks and Peas lying around?

How cool is this time-taker??...

CRAFTY WEEKEND

Well it wasn't totally crafty, but sorta...We went to a very nice lunch with friends yesterday and she brought a long a craft for the kids to do while waiting for food (Little bell wreaths)  Veg LOVED his and it now hangs on his door. 

By the way, you have to RING the bell to enter now...

She gave me some fun crafty stuff for Christmas gifts, which I got to use some of it when making cards..

Check them out here along with a Cini-Smelly ornament collection....

We also hand made some pizza dough where you have to wait for the dough to rise and everything, from a really cool dairy free kit, made by Mrs. S herself.  And by the way... every piece of paper decoration matched, from the cards, to the paper ribbon to the hand made tops of packages....  She is just way too crafty!!  So pretty!!

Then to top off the weekend, Veg and I made 4 batches of the Vapor'ish rub for a few friends and my Mom to try...I found cute little jars at our local health food store and stocked up on supplies...

Needless to say, its been a fun weekend..  Still have Work Work to do, and a few more things to finish around the house, but kudos to hubby... He put all my laundry away... Ummm Ok not all of it... he put "HIS" away!  ha ha.. but the rest is folded, that's better then Nuthin?

CRAFTY SUNDAY

Another Crafty Sunday... Click here for details!!

Not much else to share... The sun just came out, so I'm hitting the pavement for a little jog... Hubby just realized that I'm training for 13 miles... he said "Thats a long way, guess you better get running" 

ha ha, yeah, ya think???   Hoping for at least 3-4 miles before dark... wish me luck!!

THE RECYCLED BOX GIFT TOWER

A couple months ago I decided to not wrap gifts Traditionally any longer.  I started using Reusable shopping bags (canvas or other) or recycled paper and items from the house.  Not because I'm too cheap or lazy to wrap gifts... Although secretly I despise having to wrap them... But that isn't the reason. 

I just felt like it was smarter to reuse or pass on the Reuse-ability with wrapping or giving.  And spend money on things that can be reused, instead of thrown in the trash....So this Christmas, I will wrap only Veg's presents (to use up the rest of the paper so it doesn't go to waste) and everyone Else's are coming in either reusable type containers, or the boxes they arrived in.... No wrapping paper!!  

Note to family and friends, if you get something that is in a canvas bag, you will know why *smile*

Well, I have a crafty friend, and I couldn't wait to giver her the gifts we purchased...(yes I know it is not even December yet, but I have my reasons for giving early, I promise)  *wink*   

But I couldn't just give it to her in normal recycled fashion, because after all, she is my Crafty Friend.  I had to do something Crafty...... 

So I dug through the recycle bins (they are kept in the family room, so no bad stuff inside)... And created this...The Gift Tower.  Each box contains a gift item (nothing big)...

 

But of course, I couldn't leave it looking like that... No Sirree!!....  Insert, pretty craft paper and scraps, Folded just so, that each can be re-used in a card some day...

 

Handmade Card punched and tied with the twine (saving the paper of an envelope)  And decorated on top with little Star Fondant Cut Outs (she's a cake lady)  Personally, I call them cookie cutters.  But the package says Fondant!  Who New?  And the stars sort of match something inside (hint hint)...... Then all tied together with the twine.

I take the gift tower to my crafty friend... and of course she says "Its not even December yet"  Ha Ha....Well.... then she says "I'm not going to open it till Christmas!" 

WHAT?   That can't be???   I thought I was learning Patience, but apparently not so much!  *smile*

WHAT A WONDERFUL WEEK

Changing my take on things, rescheduling my days, Work Improvements Tri-fold and making time for Sleep and Exercise and Crafting... This has been a Wonderful week!!

I ran a total of 5 miles over several days.  I took 10 minutes here and 20 minutes there as I could.  Getting me back in to the groove... 

Veggies from the School Garden prompted me to make things I haven't had in a long time.  I even got some beets at the grocery store to throw in our salad last night.  The prettiest Romaine Lettuce I've ever seen... How cool to have an organic garden so close and dear.  Not to mention all proceeds go to the school.

My Computer was off every night by 12:30 even one night by 10pm.  So the mornings made it easier to wake early and get things done.  One morning I even sat down and made a Card to get me excited for Christmas... With all the cards I made last night, I'm almost done with that part of Christmas Preparedness....

Check out my Crafty Blog to see all the fun things we've been working on.

Vegmom Craft Exchange

Now were off to my favorite Veggie restaurant for an early dinner!!!  A Great Week indeed!

SILLY APPLE PUMPKIN DAY 2008

And so our Second Annual Silly Apply Pumpkin Day of 2008 comes to a close....  Veg ate his dinner at about 7:30 excused himself from the table and said "I'm going to bed, its been a long day"  AND HE DID!!!  Out cold... Fast Asleep.... No Muss No Fuss.....  But what did we do on this day you may ask??

First, there was School.... The kids got to carve a Pumpkin.  When parents arrived they auction off the pumpkins... Its all for fun and all proceeds go to the school... Did my guy CARVE a Pumpkin???  NOooooo!  He didn't want to "RUIN" the pumpkin!!  Wish I would have known that at 10pm last night when I was running around the city looking for a kid friendly carving tool..... And so he painted it!!  A beautiful masterpiece.  Notice the skeleton in picture 2:

Hubby brought Veg home after the auction, while I went back to work.  Upon getting home, I find my little Vegman in his usual costume attire... the same thing he's been for the last 5 years.... and I gave him his outdoor surprise...  The silliest pumpkin of ALL time... One that BOUNCES!!!  Really Really High!!  In fact so high, that it took off down the street and I was running very quickly to catch it before it got slaughtered by on coming traffic.  That was fun!! 

Here is Spidey, showing off his new friend!

And of course there were Leaves... Lots and Lots of Leaves... And finally one of my trees decided to turn pretty before the season ended:

After raking and jumping, raking and jumping, then playing our version of Dodge Ball and blowing bubbles.... OOH forgot to write about the bubbles....

While out last weekend, someone at a store gave Veg some bubbles.  Hubby wouldn't let him have them because they were "Halloween" and Hubby doesn't want Halloween celebrated...  Well... I say they are BUBBLES......  So tonight, I wrapped a little jar with happy pumpkin and apple stamped paper, then made my own bubbles....  Dish soap, Water and Sugar... I made it really really really soapy, so the bubbles were GREAT.  We found an old wand, and blew the most wonderful bubbles.

Ok, so after bubbles, leaves, bouncing ball and fun...  We came inside.....Bobbed for Apples!  Veg is much better this year then last year, but we all had some great laughs.  Hubby got his on the first try... SHOW OFF:

Then it was hand out candy time (to each other)  The candy I chose for Veg, was Organic all natural Candy Canes.... Afterall,  What is more silly then Christmas Candy in October???  Just love this box!!

Veg was soooo excited "Thanks Mom, this is the best candy ever"  BUT - he says... "Remember last year when you made me a really nice bowl for my candy?  Why didn't you do that this time?" 

Well Phooey!!  He remembers the one thing I forgot.... So I get him in the shower then run around to find a decoratable container...  Thanks to my Crafty Friend.. I had some recipe boxes lying around...

One of them is now officially a Silly Apple Pumpkin Box:

With candy canes inside:

Eventually it is time for dinner.... I was so busy with everything else, that I didn't bother to make a good dinner, but I had to make something that was Silly! and something that was Apple'ish..... 

Fried Apples did the trick, although didn't come out as good as I imagined they would, Veg really liked them... He said they were chewy like gum.. ha ha... Not exactly the texture I was going for:

And this Guys name is Chief Silly Face:

I also made these.. Peanut Butter and Chocolate bars but they are cooling in the fridge right now...  Those aren't really Pumpkin or Apple'ish, but they sure do look good!!  ha ha... And they will give Veg some "Peanut Butter Cup" type candy when he wakes in the morning, to show him that not going trick 'o treating isn't so bad after all....  Ooh is he excited for those.. (so am I, by the way)

And so our Day comes to an end!!  My Veg Man went to sleep as happy as can be and just before heading off he says.. "I know we don't celebrate Halloween, but I'm sure glad we celebrate Silly Apply Pumpkin Day"

Sheww... Mission Complete!!!

WEEKEND RAMBLINGS

Yesterday was a nice refreshing day... There was so much going on in our town this weekend for the Fall and so many things that I would normally drop everything to go do, and yet, I didn't want to do ANYTHING!!!  Yesterday, Veg didn't want to leave the house even with the promise of festivals and fun galore. 

So I decided, if he didn't want to leave, and I didn't really want to either, then it would be a stay home do nothing day!  And thats what it was.  Even Hubby joined in on the do nothing activities, we all got naps, and munched on what we had around the house, we all got rest, and did fun family around the house activities.

At one point, I jogged up to a new store that has our bank inside.  Hubby and Veg met me up there with the car and Veg traded in his coins from NeeNee, then went to buy a toy.  Legos.. Of course...He was so proud.. He told everyone from the bank teller to the cashier, that he rolled that "monies" with his NeeNee...
On our way back to the car he said "Do you think NeeNee will save me some more Monies?"  I already told him the answer was YES!  *smile*

So I should have been really really well rested.  Should have been good to go, happy, ready to start this Sunday....And yet, I wasn't.  Woke up with a Sinus headache.  A few natural remedies later, and headache is gone... But as the day want on, I was just a Gloomy Guss....  Worked on legos with Veg, and did some housework..... Nothing horrible happened and yet, I felt like I was dragging, like my brain had no power left and I was picking my chin off the ground...  Then I got in to the thinking of "Why are you feeling this way, you have nothing to be miserable about"  And so the day went on... Much of the same.... 

Hubby comes home and says "I know what you need, a Starbucks drink"  And he offers to go get me one...  Very sweet on the one hand, but not supportive of the "no Starbucks" on the other hand.  So he tried to make me feel better by offering to listen to my woes.  Since I had no woes on this day, there was really nothing to share... So he said he would go buy us food, but I wasn't hungry....  Poor Guy really did try!

And finally I realized, we just needed to get out side... Even Hubby joined us and we went for a short walk, then home to make Leaf Drawings on the driveway.  Pictures HERE  .....

That was what I needed, I'm sure of it!!  Because back inside I had enough energy to finish these blog posts, make dinner, eat dinner, shower, and listen to some lovely music (Veg playing his instruments) until we got him off to bed.

So Alas, that is our weekend!  Nothing amazing, Nothing out of the ordinary, Nothing horrible!  Just a plain Ol' weekend of doing a whole lot of nothing!

MAKING PAGES

I've written a lot lately about doing things I wouldn't normally do, but tonight I stayed right in my shell, very happily !!   

Having my Crafty Friend over for some good conversation, and fun scrapbooking... As well as Idea sharing, Starbucks Treats, snacks.... Did I mention Scrapbooking... I made 7 pages... WooHoo!

As in the past, I was shocked to look at the clock and realize it was 2am!  ACK!!!  But so worth it!

We had a great visit!  Even Hubby decided to chat for a while.  Maybe now the crafty bug will be happy with me, and I'll do some more before the weekend is over....*maybe*

For now, I'm going to bed!

RECYCLED FORT (TORT)

What do you do when you forget your Reusable shopping bags?  Well you ask for Paper instead of plastic.... Save at the landfill, and make a Tort?

What is a Tort, you may ask?  Well it is Fort spelled with a T and apparently that is what Veg has decided to call his new favorite spot.  The brown paper is cut up bags, and the white papers are old craft sheets that have been re-purposed...  You can see the legs of Mr. Veg enjoying his couch inside the Tort! 

I have a feeling when I come home tomorrow, he and his Daddy will have made this little area into an exotic forest..... For now Veg is going to sleep in his Tort and it is quite funny!

BACK TO CRAFTING...

I know I don't keep my other blog updated as often, so wanted to send a note on this one...I've posted a few really easy craft projects....  Vegmom Craft Exchange....  Check them out...

If we can do them, so can you!

*smile*

LOTS OF CRAFTING

Today was a Crafting day.... Check out pic's on my other blog.... To get all this done in one day, you know they were easy!!!  So enjoy!!  And thanks to my crafty friend for so much inspiration:

http://www.vegmom.typepad.com/vegmom_craft_idea_exchang/

CRAFTY MORNING

We had a Crafty Morning... I love those... Posted everything on my Craft Blog...  *smile*