The Pinterest Time Suck and General Slackerness

So....I haven't been doing a very good job in the last two weeks of actually writing posts.  I have lots of ideas and things to catch up about but I continually get stuck in the life wasting time suck that is Pinterest as I early bemoaned about...however, I HAVE been doing some crafty Pinterest inspired crafts.  I feel like making note of the Pinterest projects completed somehow justifies the hours I spend uselessly laughing like a maniac at my phone as I repin posts from friends and strangers alike.  Similar to when you make a to-do list for the weekend but "accidentally" add a few items that you have already completed earlier in the week just so you can get a head start on the list. Yep, I'm totally that person.  No shame.  Ha ha.

I also have fallen into the mindless trap of what Marsha calls the magic black box...I've fallen deeply back into the Tuesday night DVR battle of my shows versus Ryan's shows and thanks to Ellie am now a fanatic of the Voice.  So, that accounts for the other portion of general slackerness...plus when the weather gets cooler and it gets dark earlier it's really easy to snuggle into the couch and be mindlessly amused.  But it feels oh so good to get the words that have been jogging around in the recesses of my mind out and flowing again.

While the Pinterest Time Suck has been taking time it really does inspire you to try out some new ideas, crafts, recipes, scarf tying, etc.  Here is a little "round up" of what I've made because of my Pinterest inspiration:

 I knew that at our Saturday play date that the girls would be painting pumpkins but who am I kidding, I really wanted to paint them too so here is my attempt...the kitty is kind of sad but I do really like the Thomas and the Naomi pumpkins!  Plus when I told Naomi that there was a pumpkin with her name on it she was really funny, like, "No way Mom".  Cute.  She has just started saying the following phrase, "What? Noooo...." with the funniest expression and tone.  Love her more everyday.  If that's possible.

 The actual pumpkins weren't in that great of shape but I like the character of a few little bumps, bruises and flaws...it is what makes the world go round!

 Nay's special pumpkin :)

Barb if you read this before Wednesday just close your eyes or you will ruin the Halloween project that Naomi and I made for you....so keep them closed...but for others I thought this was a super cute way to preserve how big they are at certain ages.  Mind you, somewhere in Nay's gene pool there must be a giant lurking because girl has huge feet!

 
This scarecrow was really fun to make...for me Naomi she picked out all of the papers and I cut out the shapes and she had to tell me what they were...she was at about 75% but we are getting there with shapes and colors.  She also was in charge of putting the glue on the back which she thought was the coolest thing ever.  I also let her use safety scissors today for the first time...under my hawk eye.  She did pretty good, it was really awkward at first but she really like trying it and I think it made her feel like a big girl! 

So all in all, not to justify my extensive time wasting abilities, my Pinterest obsession has taken away from the time that I normally spent either folding laundry, sewing or blogging it has inspired me to try out a few new crafts with my baby girl and that time and those memories are priceless :)  Totally justified there.

Refurbishing fun and the return to sewing...

I've had a few realizations in the last couple of weeks,

1) I'm great at getting inspiration for a crafty project, finding just the right tools and starting the project with gusto (normally coinciding with Nay's nap time)...however...if it's a project that I can't finish within a 2 hour window, it's just that.  Not Finished.  So my goal this past week/weekend was to finish a few things.  Namely a dresser that I snagged for like a whopping $5 at a garage sale and had a number of different ideas for which ultimately now is in Naomi's room.  It was fun to jazz it up and Naomi was really excited about seeing it in her room for the first time, her exact words were something along the lines of, "Hey, Moooommm" kind of along the cadence of when say aww....so even though the project should have taken a weekend and ended up being a multi-weekend venture I think it was worth it!

Before:

After:

2) Since we've had that little cold snap these past couple of weeks I'm starting to feel the fall projects and hibernation mode kicking in...I sincerely hope summer isn't done but the weather did motivate me to FINALLY finish a pillowcase dress I started making for Nay a few months ago.  So...its about 2 inches too long for her right now but she will grow into it this winter I'm sure and it will look cute with leggings and a long sleeve T.

3) Last week I went with a very dear friend to look at the fabric on MEGA sale as Abbotsford Ben Franklin...boy oh boy did we get some deals which has lead me back to a Pinterest addiction issue looking for sewing projects to use said fabric for.  While we were in the store there actually were quite a few fellow shoppers - more than I anticipated for late Wednesday afternoon.  The employees of the store are so sweet, the owner was cutting the yards of fabric for my dear friend and just chatting away with us...it struck me on a sad note, I'm sure the employees and owners are looking forward to retirement but what a bittersweet time to say good bye to customers you've served for years and years.  Their presence in that community will certainly be missed...back to the fabric, I think this was my favorite of the day - or perhaps ever, it makes me think of sweet little girls and I wanted to make something for Naomi that embraces this time in her life that she would actually use so a pillow case it is!

So, here's to finally finishing a few projects and hoping that this motivation stays with me to keep working on the to-do stack!

It's A Start

I am hoping to use this blog as a place to pool all of my thoughts/projects recipes and ideas as well as post some fun pictures.  Projects/goals that I am currently working on:

1) New Year's Resolution - try 1 new recipe a week, thus far aside from a lethally spicy jambalaya incident from last week has been going well.  An addendum to my resolution is going to be to post the picture and recipe for the newbie of the week.

Don't let the veggies fool you - after adding the spice packet and pre-seasoned andouille it got S-P-I-C-E-Y!

2) I am JUST starting to learn to sew and I would like to keep a log of pictures and details of projects that I am working on to keep them in order and to watch my progress :)

The one below is a Changing Pad and Pocket Set courtesy of Sewing Republic - FUN to make, easy enough for a novice like me and will make a cute gift for one of the many preggo ladies I know :) 

3) Of course I am going to post pictures of Naomi, that's just silly to think THAT wouldn't happen.

Note the sad little tear trail on her cheek - she had a little bug this weekend and it was hard being a toddler, luckily we could just snuggle up and watch Dora while eating saltines and drinking pedialyte. 

4) I got a new camera for Christmas from my lovely husband Ryan and am hoping to learn more about the camera and will keep track of the progress/learning process there.

Also, I am a big fan of Pinterest right now and have blog envy of a few of the posts I have seen therefore I am hoping to get some inspiration from them. 

So here we go....