Cookies and Cocoa

I finished the Valentine's Felt Sugar Cookies. For my first go at it, I liked how they turned out. I think my niece will too. I am going to make her a cookie jar to put them in so she can pretend to make cookies in her "kitchen".

Next on the agenda, Pepperoni Pizza!

Fun Times With Felt Food

I have been admiring felt play food for quite some time. I have always been a fan of felt...I love it, but what I love most is the versatility. My niece's birthday is coming up soon, so I am going to start working on making her a felt food set. I purchased a pattern kit to make an Italian theme felt food set. It comes with patterns for making a pizza with various toppings, various pastas, garlic bread, and 5 varieties of cannoli! What is so wonderful about my purchase is that it is actually an EBook. It was emailed to me almost instantly after my purchase. The book is wonderful. The designer explains things so well, it is fool proof. I can't wait to get to the craft store to get supplies so I can start working on my projects! Since I will not see my niece for Valentine's Day, I think I may make her felt Valentine sugar cookies too. I actually feel a present theme in the works. Maybe next time I will make her a breakfast set with eggs, pancakes, bacon and sausage!
The possibilities are endless!

If I make good progress tomorrow, pictures are to follow!

"No Post On Sunday"

I am so thrilled that I had another sale on my Etsy site. Over the next few weeks I am going to FINALLY start making new things for the store. I missed the post yesterday so, in attempt to mail out the item that was so kindly purchased from me, I went to FedEx. Well, I think that will probably be the last time I ship from FedEx. The rates are highly unreasonable. As a next step to re-vamp my Etsy store, I would really like to be able to print shipping labels from my home and leave them for the postman to pick up. I have looked into this on the USPS website and I know that there are people out there that do this, however, I am highly confused. How does it work? How do you know you are putting the correct postage amount on the package? It would be so convenient to mail all my packages from home. I am going to continue to research this, however, if there is anyone reading this that knows the process and may even mail from home... a little advice and information would be greatly appreciated. Maybe USPS is not the best route to go, possibly UPS is better. I even think that Paypal has a mailing service of some kind. These are the things that I would like to know, and more. I am really excited about this!

Cheers and have a happy week!

The New Year

Well, it has been a bit since I posted. I hope everyone had a lovely holiday. I had a wonderful time filled with family and friends. It is hard to believe it is 2008! There is alot I want to accomplish this next year. I have never really made a New Year resolution. I am the kind of person that makes several goals for myself throughout the year. I think I am a pretty driven ambitious person most of the time so, instead of a New Year resolution list, I have a things to accomplish this year list. It is a list of things to accomplish for the house, career, and personal..with some other random things thrown in. For starters, I have wanted to make curtains for my breakfast nook in the kitchen for the longest time. I bought my house about 2 and a half years ago and have slowly been decorating the house the way I would like. I say slowly, partly because I did not really know how long I would live here because Jeff wanted to be a Veterinarian and go to school in Fort Collins, Colorado to get his Vet degree. Since I thought we were going to move, I did not invest too much time and money into decorating etc. Recently, he has taken a shine to Genetics, better him than me. I will just stick to Social Work for now. Anyhoo, he can go to school for his Master's and Doctorate in Genetics right here in Fort Worth! Which means for me, I will not be moving any time soon and can start doing things around the house that I want! Okay, back to the curtains...this seemed like a simple place to start on my list of things to do so...here you go:

Before:

(I hate those nasty plastic mini blinds. Animal hair sticks to them and will not come off. I have 5 animals...which boils down to a metric TON of animal hair).

After:

I am not sure if I will keep these curtains. I am still deciding if I like them or not. It did not turn out exactly as I had envisioned it too but, they will do for now. I think I am going to go on a estate sale hunt for a vintage kitchen table cloth and turn that into curtains at some point.

I think the kitty liked them. I guess now the curtains will have cat hair all over them now. Well, at least they are washable.

I really cannot remember how long it has been since I wanted Fiesta Ware dishes. I am certain, however, it is when my mom bought the dishes for her kitchen. I just cannot recall when that was. Well...let's just say it was a very long time ago. I love all the vibrant colors of the dishes. You can mix and match them all. Having these dishes has been on my list of things to purchase. Sure enough, Ol' Saint Nick knew exactly what it was I wanted and I was very very surprised (I am sooooooo excited about this).











My sister also made me fantastic dish towels for my kitchen too. It seems as though my kitchen is off on a good start this year! There are a few more things I would like for the kitchen such as a pot rack for my pots and pans. I would also like to give it a fresh coat of paint. I am not certain of the color just yet.

Oh, and I cannot forget the most important thing my kitchen got for Christmas! This is also something I have wanted for a very very long time. A bright blue Kitchen Aid Mixer! Oh, it is so fantastic! I do not know how long I have managed to live without one for all these years. It has a splash guard too. I am quite the neat freak so I was pleased to find out if came with a splash guard. It is beautiful. I feel like an official baker now.

I am not sure what next I will do on my list of things to accomplish...

*New couch for living room

*Organize bills/paperwork

*Go to a concert (well, maybe more than just one)

*Start studying/training for my LCSW

*Participate in the Play Therapy Conference in October

*New, non pet hair stickin' mini blinds for the bedrooms, bathroom, and office

*Purchase a spinning wheel

*Spin wool on the newly purchased spinning wheel

*Re-vamp and work harder at the Etsy site.

*Renew membership to NASW

*Make a headboard for the bed

*Hanging pot rack for the kitchen

*Paint rooms that need painting

*Exercise more

*Visit/write to my Grandparents more





I am sure the list will continue to grow but that is all I have for now.



I hope everyone has a wonderful year in 2008!

Cheers