A Christmas miracle! And a trip to Hobby Lobby.

After a long absence I am doing a blog post. My first one in almost a year. Truly a miracle. I think I just got tired of posting "last week we went to the zoo, and the week before that we did this or that" blah. blah. blah.  It just got a little boring to me I guess. And I never wanted to take the time to upload my pictures from my camera. I have a new phone and I can email the pictures to myself, so I think that will help. So the picture quality will be decreased, but I think that crappy pictures are better than no pictures, right? At least for me. Plus, I got to looking at past blog posts and pictures that I have on my computer and I was really sad that the lat year has been virtually undocumented. So I plan to just blog about everything and nothing, with no rhyme or reason. :) And how about these new fonts on blogger? Long time coming. I am quite happy about it.

 And now to the point. Hobby Lobby! Ever since my first accidental encounter with the store several years ago  at the I-10 and 99th ave,  (I just thought the name "Hobby Lobby" sounded interesting...so I went in.  It was the only AZ location at the time. ) I knew that Hobby Lobby and I were meant to be a part of each other's lives. Sadly,  I have not been there in several months, but I ventured in yesterday. A trip, mind you, that is not for the faint of heart with 2 boys ages 2 and 3. But oh, so worth it despite the   "you know if he breaks that you are going to be held responsible" and "you may not climb on that, where is your mother" comments that we received from employees. And, yes,  I will admit I do get a little distracted, and lose track of them for a few seconds at a time. There are just so many great ideas and tons of inspiration there. But honestly, what am I supposed to do, get a babysitter while I go to Hobby Lobby? (Although that would be a fabulous idea.) Tanner refuses to stay in the cart, so I figure I either try and make him stay in the cart and he ends up falling out and cracking his head open or I just let him walk around with Tate. I usually give it a good effort for the first 2 minutes we are in a store and make him stay in the cart but after that I give up. During those first 2 minutes Tate always asks me, "can  you put Tanner down?" They are seriously so funny together.

Exhibit A: the Wheelbarrows

Tate discovered these wheelbarrows, and naturally Tanner thought it was a great idea. They pushed these around the entire store, loading them up with their little treasures. I kept making them put the things back that they put in but after awhile I remembered when I was little I would have thought I was so cool to be able to put things in my cart, so I backed off a little.  

As a side note, Tanner demands to wear this Cowboy hat every single day. As soon as I get him dressed he says, "cawboy hat" I have even tried to hide it a few times, you know, just to see if we can change it up a little one day and not wear the hat. Doesn't work. That and his "boooots" every day of his life. He is the cutest little cowboy, though. 

Exhibit B: The unidentified crumbs

And then a saw them both laying on the floor. They are looking at crumbs of chips, I think. I couldn't really tell. When I picked Tanner up off the floor his breath smelled like chips, so I am betting that's what they were.

I took a few pictures of things that i liked or gleaned some inspiration from. I seem to just take more pictures than purchases, though. My mom gave me a gift card for my bday in September, and when I have gift cards I make them last so long. I think my $40 dollar gift card has lasted me 4 trips now! I just don't want to squander any of it.

I made an apron like this a couple years ago, but  I have been wanting to make another.  I love these colors. I want to make a valentine's one. 

I love this mirror. Especially the color. Actually, I really like the shape, too. 

I like the way these letters are arranged.  

I found this in a book. I love this quilt! I think I am going to try it-soon.
 I am a sucker for polka dots every. stinkin. time. 

A project I finished yesterday. I think I am going to update it a little since the pink letters are hard to read.
La La Love you! (that's what it says)
It is super cutesy and girly, but that is what I was going for. 

 This is my favorite project lately, these banners. (I have a Halloween, birthday, and Christmas one!) I like them because they go pretty fast and they are easy to start and stop and then pick up again when you have time. Since I don't have a fancy schmancy machine to cut fabric letters, I just print off my computer whatever I want it to say and in what font, and then I cut the letters out of the paper . Then, I iron "heat 'n bond" (pretty cheap, available at Joanns, hobby lobby, etc.) onto my white fabric,  and then cut the fabric letters out, using the paper letters as a pattern. Then you just iron the fabric letters on the the banner.

I have a few other Valentinesy projects underway, I will have to post when they're done. Happy Friday!