Week in the Life Monday - photo heavy!

Ali Edwards does this project each year - A Week in the Life. I've wanted to play along but have never stayed committed! I tried last week but had to sub several days and that led to not many pictures. So I decided to try again this week.

Here's our Sunday:

Walked in Cole's room and saw this:



Cole took a turn on the laptop:



Our morning drinks:



I crafted while Cole played next to me on the laptop:



And now we're ready for church:



While we were watching church, I peeked in on Cole:



Had some lunch:



Pulled out my contact paper and circle punch and hooked myself up with a french manicure:



Jason was in his office downstairs, so Cole took over his seat:



just so we could watch this:



Once Cole realized that Jr. wasn't going to win in the first five minutes, he sort of gave up!

Cole playing with Zurg:



Afternoon snack:



We headed outside to hang out on the deck, roses are blooming:



Chilin':



Spotted a UFO, or something in the sky:



Jason taking part in 'week in the life':



Cole working the jump rope/lasso:



After his bath, picking out pj's:



We finished the night with a family game of Wii bowling:



Not too bad for the first day. I'm already snapped several this morning and WILL STICK WITH IT all week!!!

Thanks for looking!

Another project off my list!

I love getting lost in blog land. I love finding projects that I want to do. This one was a combination of several things I saw online and sadly, can't find the links now. The t-shirts that have those cute ruffles started it all. I made one of those last summer and loved it. I thought it would be cute to turn that concept into a wreath. I bought a wreath form and a t-shirt from Michaels. I cut the t-shirt into long strips and began pinning them into the wreath form.

This actually took me forever. I started this in October and JUST.FINISHED.IT last week. Pushing all those little pins in just took forever. I also ran out of t-shirt and had to pick up another one at Michaels. Then I realized in a few spots, my fabric was really too tightly wound so I pulled a few pins out and loosened it up and cut off any extra fabric and added it to the bare spots. I used every bit of two extra large to-shirts. The only parts I didn't use where the hems and color.

When I was all done, I thought it needed something else - it was too brown. So, I found a t-shirt Cole has outgrown in cream. I cut out some large flower shapes, layered them and stitched them all together. I added an old pearl clip on earring that was my granny's to the flower's center. I pinned this on as well - just stuck straight pin through the last few layers of the flower. Now it's just right!

Here's the finished project:



The whole wall:



and the flower:



This project was fairly cheap - the shirts were on sale at Michaels - 2.50 each I think. The wreath form I purchased with a 50% off coupon. The pins were in my stash and I used a whole pack!! All in all, less than $10.00!!

This was a bit messy. The t-shirt material doesn't fray, but little pieces of the shirt does fall off all over you as you are pinning everything in. My finger and thumb were both really sore too after pushing all those stinking pins in!! I thought this would be a cute gift idea, too, but I don't think I want to make this again.

My friend, Brittney, had a great suggestion though. She said I should have covered the wreath in brown ribbon first. GENIUS. That would certainly make a difference. I wouldn't have had to cover so much of the wreath if I'd thought of that!!

A little tutorial for you - framing a frame

I've had this project on my 'to-do' list for quite some time. Mentioned it to Carol the other day and just decided it was going to happen this week. So, I gathered my supplies and got to work.

Supplies you need:

framed art or photos
white contact paper or vinyl (more on this later)
scissors
a thin sharpie
a piece of chipboard or cardboard



I bought a large roll of contact paper, it's probably 18 inches wide. The photos I'm framing are pretty big, maybe 10x13. If you are framing something smaller, see my notes at the end.

First I grabbed my framed photo and my chipboard. I placed my chipboard behind the frame on the floor and sort of just sketched out where I thought my outer frame should go. When placing my chipboard and sketching my lines, I made sure to sketch it where the chipboard pattern I was creating would cover more than one fourth of the frame. You can see this here:



You can barely see the line I drew - but it's there.

Now, cut out your cardboard pattern and trace it onto the back on the contact paper.



Then flip your pattern over and trace it again and then cut out your shape. You can make your pattern over lap, or just make it a complete mirror image. For this one, I did a mirror age. You can see the complete first half here:



Now you want to trace the first half unto the back of the contact paper again. Now I took both of my two pieces of contact paper and laid them on top of each other, face up. I overlapped the scallops where the two pieces meet. I only did this because in my original attempt at this project, I ended up with this:



The two pieces just met and there's a thin line between the two. This isn't a huge deal, so I thought I'd try the overlapping to see if that looks better.

I played around and decided which piece would go on top and which would go on the bottom (for the overlapping). For the bottom piece, I cut part of the scallop off, just enough to not have a huge overlapping area in case the scallops weren't exact.



Find your spot on the wall, and peal off the backing on your first piece of contact paper. If you are overlapping, make sure your first piece is the piece with the trimmed scallops.



That's my first piece - I stepped back to make sure it was even. Sure, a level would help, but you know, that's not how I roll. Here's the completed pieces of vinyl on the wall. You can see where they overlap in the middle.



Now here are the two completed ones, with the pictures hanging up:



I really like the one on the right more than the one on the left. I may take it down and try again. I like the scallops, but think I should have made it more even all the way around - so the vinyl on the sides was as wide as the vinyl at the top. All in all, I'm happy for now and really glad to mark this off my to-do list!!

Contact paper versus vinyl - my thoughts: the contact paper is thinner than vinyl, as well as cheaper. Since I'm not the best at sticking things on the wall, I thought contact paper would be better since it's easily removable and I could reposition it (or take it off if it didn't work out). Most vinyl rolls I've seen aren't 18 inches wide - so I would have had to use a lot for this project, which really means, I wouldn't have done it at all. In the end, I'm happy with the contact paper and wouldn't trade it for vinyl. I like the way it looks just fine!

Cardboard notes: you can use chipboard or packaging from a cereal box, or even poster board. I just used what I had on hand. My piece was pretty big (luckily) since what I was framing was pretty large (i think 10x13). If you are framing something smaller, I would try to make a pattern right on the contact paper backing. Especially if you are going for a more free look. I wanted my frame to be symmetrical, so I didn't try it any other way.

Thanks for reading!!

Sometimes, it's just too much, you know?

So, today I was on Facebook and scrolled down to see who's birthday was today, or tomorrow, so I could wish them a Happy Birthday. There were two and I opened each in a new window.

The first is a fellow cancer mom. Her son went through the same treatment Cole did but for a different brain tumor. His tumor came back with a short time of finishing treatment and sadly, there were no more options. Nothing they could do. We were in Memphis when they found out. I didn't know what to do or say. We all acted like nothing was wrong in front of Isaac. We just hung out and talked about anything but cancer. I remember going to tell them goodbye and getting a sweet hug for Isaac. He was so sweet and really really funny!! I remember one day in the medicine room (like an ER sort of - where kids go and get hooked up to their chemo, or medicine - things they don't have to spend the night for). He had one of those little laser light pens - you know you push the button and point it and the red light shows up. He was sitting across from Cole and his mom, me and Jason were all just talking - don't even remember what about. His mom starts laughing and we all realize he's pointing his laser light at my boobs - one at a time. He also had one of those little fart machines and would push the button anytime a nurse was around and everyone would crack up - well, usually not the nurse.

Anyway, went to the first birthday, which was Amy's - Isaac's mom, and typed out Happy Birthday and a message about having a wonderful day. Posted it. Scrolled down and saw messages that didn't make any sense. Everyone was saying they were thinking of her, especially today. I was beginning to wonder. I mean, thinking of her, sure - but shouldn't they be wishing her a happy birthday? Then I thought, surely her son didn't pass away on her birthday and I didn't realize and everyone is thinking of her today because it's the anniversary. No - that wasn't it. I kept scrolling down and saw messages about how she was so missed, it had been a year, how she touched their heart..........

I didn't understand what had happened. I kept looking, hoping for an answer. I found a like to a page titled "In Remembrance of.........." and I realize she was gone. The information stated she died of a broken heart. She died a year ago tomorrow. I just can't believe it.

Cancer sucks. No, she didn't have cancer but her heart was broken because of cancer. So many hearts that I know have been broken because of cancer.

Jason and I were just talking the other day about families dealing with cancer and how they make it, or don't make it - all the heartbreak. I told Jason that at times I feel like I got off too easy going through all we went through with Cole. There were so many times that another person may have completely fallen apart with the stress of the day - but I didn't. It's not because I'm super strong, or emotionally dead, or that I just know how to deal. God did it all - He held me up and carried the burden for me. I knew it then and I know it now. I just hate that there are some people in the world who don't have that feeling. My friend must not have felt like she could live here without her son. I can understand that. I can only imagine how heartbroken I would be in her shoes. I've tried very hard to not ever even think of that - think of the what if's that could have happened to Cole - so many times.

I'm just heartbroken over this and just wish I'd known - I know there's nothing I could have done - but still.........

Cancer really sucks.

The time is just flying by!

So, it's the middle of April! Can you believe it? Time is really flying by - school will be out before we know it!!

I've been busy cleaning up my scrap/guest room. I've finally located a punch I've been missing and found several other things that just got tucked away and forgotten about! Isn't that terrible?

So, I'm planning on creating lots this weekend. Jason's going to the A-day game and I'm staying home and playing! I'm sure I'll be playing with Cole a good bit - not just playing with paper!! I have about a million ideas in my head lately and just haven't had the chance to put them out on paper. I'm hoping to get several projects completed and a few new ones started this weekend.

For now, that's all I've got - I'll be back soon with photos of the weekend craftiness!