A Little Obsession

Some times a little obsession can be a dangerous thing. Back when I was holding my brand new infant in my arms, at 1am in a sleepless stupor I stumbled upon a lovely kid's craft blog called Crafty Crow. Have you been there yet? I love it. While blog hopping around Crafty Crow's amazingly talented blogroll I found myself on Betz White's blog. If you have ever heard of Betz White you must know about her deliciously adorable felt cupcake pincushions. If you haven't heard of Betz White then, please, run for dear life and don't ever look back. Don't look at the cuteness, the craftiness, the recycling chic-ness, and run from the must-make-it spell that she will put you under. I was one of her many casualties and after reading her blog I set out on my quest, to make many adorably delicious felt cupcakes.
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And just a mere 8 months, 5 sweaters, 2 flooded rooms, 15 buckets of water, 1 busted washing machine, 1 nervous breakdown, and several eye twitches later I have achieved my dream. And if you try to follow this dream then take my advice: DO NOT CUT YOUR SWEATERS BEFORE WASHING THEM!!! No matter what Betz White says on the very useful video at marthstewart.com don't do it. Oh, and make sure you clean out under your washing machine as well because when the lint plugs your machine's water pump, and gallons of water start gushing all over your floor, those lost socks that found their way under your machine and blocked the emergency drain might cause the water to reroute itself under the wall and into the room next door. It just might possibly make you cry. Hysterically. On the phone with your husband. And he just won't understand what "@#%$&#@($& CUPCAKES!!!!" means. .

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.But it was all worth it. Ok, maybe not, but I have to tell myself that or my eye starts twitching again.
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I love these little darlings. They are so cute, so colorful, so whimsical, so girly. I don't do girly. I made an exception for these.
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I loved sorting through my button box with my kids picking out the perfect button "cherries," and spacing each pin in just the right spot to look like I had just throw a few sprinkles on top. I want to just take a big ol' bite of one of these and lick all the frosting from around my lips.

But the thing I love most about these little beauties is that Betz White sells these for 30+ bucks each and I made 12 for a grand total of 10 dollars (I bought the sweaters for a buck each at Value Village, and the ribbon for a buck each at Micheal's. The pins were the most expensive part). That's less than a dollar each. And that is one sweet deal.

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Now I just love that I am done with these. I love that I can send these to some of my loved ones for Mother's Day. And I especially love that I finally get to fulfill my long ago promise to send something to three lucky people who participated in my blog reader drawing waaaaaay back in January.

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And the winners are....

Sea Star

32 Flavors

and Mia Katia

Please email me you addresses so I can get these in the mail before Sweet Terror sees them and demands they be hers.

If, after reading all my warnings, you still find yourself wanting to make these yourself then get your hands on a copy of Betz White's book, Warm Fuzzies, where she gives you all the instructions for cupcakes and lots of other felt fun crafts. I will warn you (I'm just full of warnings today), it is a popular book and I had to wait 2 months to get it from the library.

Help!

I need somebody.

HELP!

Not just anybody.

HELP!

You know I need someone.

HE-E-E-E-ELP!

I am one of those people that tries so hard not to fall for convenience. I know, why fight convenience? Because I'm tough, see. I don't need convenience, see. I'm an idiot, see.

I give birth naturally. For years and years I insisted on kneading dough by hand based on principle (I now love love love my Kitchen-Aid). I didn't own a cell phone until just last year. And I have tried like crazy to convince myself that I can keep blogging without using a blog reader.

I'm drowning in blogs and have started to cringe at the thought of blogging just because it takes so long. I give up. I will be convenient. I will use a blog reader.

This is where you all come in. I need your blog addresses. My blogroll is so out of date I don't have even half of you on there. Please, please, please leave me a comment with your blog address so that I can put you in my blog reader.

To make it worth your while I will even make this a giveaway. Leave your blog url in my comments section by January 31st and you will get a chance to win one of 3 surprise gifts.

THANKS!

Little, But Big

In my usual procrastinatory style I'm here to enter a giveaway shortly before it ends, and to let you know about it with hardly anytime to enter yourself. Dontcha just love me?

Sariqd of La la la laaaahhhh is hosting a giveaway. She has three Magical Munchie Popcorn kits to give to three winners. All you have to do is write a post about a time when someone did a "little" thing for you yet helped you tremendously. Oh, and you only have till Midnight tonight (Sunday the 11th) to get it done and leave Sariqd a comment so she knows you've entered. Got it? Good. Now move out of my way, I've got me some Magical Munchie Popcorn to win!

Little, But Big

For me it is usually the little things that mean the most when it comes to serving others (ok, I mean me). Big acts tend to scare me and make me suspicious, which is sad but it's just how I am. I also consider myself a pretty independent person and don't want big things. But, just one small action from another human being, something that shows me I'm not invisible, or that someone is thinking of me, and cares whether I'm happy or not, well, that is enough to bring me to tears. (Obviously!) Little acts of genuine kindness speak volumes about the person committing them. It shows that they are humble, caring, observant, and selfless. It makes them angels. So many times when a person has done me a small act of kindness they have been an answer to a prayer and that makes them angels in my book.

One instance I particularly remember was the angel who helped me get to my car. I had just given birth to my second child, I was suffering from severe post partum depression, my husband was away on a very long business trip, and I had just started the most difficult church calling I had ever been given. Pablo was a very colicky baby and I was running on very little sleep. Church was over and I was trying to carry a carseat with a baby, a large diaper/church bag, a big binder, and hold my very tiny Cookie's hand to get to my car. Of course I had several people ask if they could help me but I gave them all my standard smile and stiff upper lip as I independently said, "Thanks, but no, I've got it." Inside I was screaming, "Help me, don't listen to me, just help me!" As I approached the heavy doors wondering how I was going to get through them another woman asked me again, "Liz, do you need some help?" Before I could give her my standard smiley answer she said, "Oh, of course you do. Here, give me the baby. Where is your car?" She took the heavy carseat from my arms, pushed the door open with her back and helped me get my little family to my car. Once the babies were all buckled in she gave me a hug and rushed off to help her husband pack up their own 4 little children before I could even say thanks. I was so grateful I cried the whole way home, so glad that someone was willing to look past my strong facade and just help. She only lifted a carseat and a 7 pound baby, but she lifted 300 pounds from my shoulders and my heart. I had been feeling so lonely, so weary, and she made me feel noticed, cared for, and loved. She will never know just how much that meant to me but that is how angels work. They fly in, help where needed, and fly away again without waiting for reward or notice. The action may be little but the love felt is mighty big.

Almost There...

Way back in May I was picked for a bloggy pay-it-forward. Way back in August I finally picked my own pay-it-forward people. Way back in September I finally figured out what to make them. Way back to last night I finally finished what I was making them. At this rate I might actually get these delivered by next year. Does anyone know how best to mail jewelry and where to find the materials to ship them in? I would greatly appreciate the info as I have never mailed jewelry before. Thanks. Jewelry making is fun, but it makes my back hurt, bending over those tiny beads. All of these contain repurposed beads or buttons in their making, you know, 'cause I'm green and recycle, and am going to heaven for it.

Fallfleur, these are for you.

Becky, I know you like red, I just hope you don't hate turquoise.



Michal, I gave up some of my preciously hoarded buttons for this.
Hope you like it.

P.S. Photographing jewelry is HARD. I had to take like 20 pics before I got these, and they still aren't that great. But see how professional I was laying them on props with the pretty fabric background?

Ice Cream Winners

The names are in and the free ice cream winners are (I had my kids yell out random numbers that I assigned to each name):

Richelle
Cellista

Caffienated Cowgirl

Sarah

Leslie (sounds like you could use this)

Ordinary Mom

Lisa

Erin

Cynthia

Lucy Van Pelt

Thanks for playing, and don't forget to send me your mailing address! (lizzyvance at gmail dot com) And, not to pressure you or anything, may I highly suggest you find and try some of these fun flavors of Klondike bars with your coupon. When you click on the individual flavors there is a window where you can type in your zip code and it will tell you the nearest store that carries that flavor. I've actually never had a Klondike Bar before. I'm not sure why... Well I just tried the Heath and Reese's flavors last night and I gotta say, "I think I'm hooked!" But I will post more about this new experience later... I still need to try and find Caramel Pretzel. Heck, I just might try them all... After all, good experimentation require complete thoroughness. =)

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I need your opinion now. I'm new to this whole giveaway business and I need to know, should I have had a longer cut off time for this? I know I sometimes don't get around to blogs as often as I would like and maybe some of you are sad that you didn't get here in time for this? Or do you prefer to know the end result quickly? I've entered several giveaways and then forget which ones I've entered and where because I had to wait weeks to find out who won. Let me know what you think.

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In other news: Sheesh, it is amazing to me how difficult blogging (and everything else) has become now that I have Cheeks. His Parent-Pleasure-Sensor is always set to high and he sounds the alarm anytime I start doing anything that feels even remotely good. I eat, he cries. I read, he cries. I pee, he cries. I sit, he cries. And when he cries I have four little messengers that feel the need to tap me incessantly in order to make sure I know that the baby, laying right next to me, is crying. It makes me want to cry.

Who Wants To Play?

Check out these adorable little baby booties that Richelle from Richelle's Reflections sent (and made) me. Aren't they darling? I can only think of two things that could make these any cuter.

Oh how I love baby feet! =)

Richelle sent these to me as part of a "pay it forward" idea. So, now that I've been the lucky recipient of some happy kindness, it is my turn to pay it forward. If you want to play along just tell me in your comment. I will pick three random and willing commentors. The rules of the game, if you are chosen, are that you must be comfortable giving me your mailing address (and you'll just have to trust that I'm too busy changing diapers and preventing sibling homicides to do anything malicious with it ), you must be patient while I figure out what to send you, and then you must be willing to spread the joy to at least three other bloggers.

Who wants to play?

P.S. Stay tuned for a post about visiting my one-armed grandpa and a long lost cousin. I'm really missing blogging.