House Warming Present…..

Well, I should actually call it an ‘apartment’ warming present. You see, my little sister (you know, the one who just got engaged and I had made all of those nice presents for) and her fiance just got their first apartment together. Well, it is really more like his apartment for now. She stays there on the weekends and will move in some time closer to the wedding. But, regardless, she is super excited to have a place of their own. She loves to go out and buy all new things….it is like playing house for the first time. We have all been there before :)

I wanted to make her something for her new place but wasn’t sure exactly what.  Then I realized that they had gotten new furniture for the bedroom but she didn’t have any art on the walls. That was the answer….I was going to make her some pictures.

After thinking about it, I decided I was going to create the pictures using my Silhouette and some Mod Podge. I am not a big Mod Podge gal, but wanted to give it a try.
Here is the final result….I think they came out pretty good. Not perfect, but pretty good!!


I used canvas that I had purchased at Michael’s along with scrapbook paper. I used the paper to create the background of the pictures. With my Silhouette machine, I cut out the words. I Mod Podged it all together.



After it was all dry, I added ribbon around the sides and ribbon on the front. I used some other embellishments to jazz it up a bit.


Now she has at least has 2 pictures on her bare walls!!





Have a great weekend…..

Almost Wordless Wednesday….

Shopping with toddlers is great. You turn your head for a second and find them on the aisle floor of Target like this…..


Happy Hump Day….

Where is the Fall?? And a winner….

Happy Monday!! Hope everyone had a great weekend. Ours was nice. My husband was finally off from work on Sunday so we decided to take the kids to the first Fall Festival of the season. Living in NY we really do experience the weather of all four seasons. And I do appreciate that. Each season has something that I enjoy, but my favorite is the fall.

But where is it?? Fall is officially here and I expect the weather to get a little cooler. I want to wear a light jacket. I want to be able to light the fire pit and toast marshmellows. I want to see the leaves start to change to beautiful colors and I want to start to decorate for the upcoming Fall holidays.

I want it to look like this……


But it doesn’t. Not yet anyway. We went apple picking at the festival and it was 85 degrees and humid. The kiddos were running in potato saks and they were sweating. Not my idea of the fall….lol.

We did get a ton of apples and the kids had a great day and that is what counts. Although the weather might not feel like fall, I can make some warm apple crisp and have a pumpkin latte and in my world, it will be fall!!

Okay, for some exciting news now!!! The winner of the Easy Canvas Prints 8x10 canvas is…..

LeeAnn…..who said:
I like Easy Canvas Prints on Facebook

Congratulations!!!

Sorry, I still do not know how to take a snapshot of the screen when using Random.org.  If anyone wants to let me in on that secret, please do.

Have a great day!

An organized bag….

I am a bag lady! By that, I mean I love handbags. I probably have more than I need, but it is an obsession. Aren’t most women like this?? LOL!

I found this cute bag at the Gap Outlet for $20….a bargain for sure!! It is super big, which I need since I carry everything but the kitchen sink.


The downfall is that it only has one little pocket.


I knew I needed to whip up a purse organizer for myself to fit with this new bag, so I went to work.



Now that is much better!! Organization is essential for a mom :)


I think I might make a few for my new Etsy shop…any thoughts??






Have a great weekend!

Almost Wordless Wednesday….

Here is my cousin’s daughter Zoey……isn’t she a cutie!! And look at her fabulous bow! My girlfriend has an awesome company that sells hairbows and tutu’s and all things girly. More to come from her shop soon……



Happy Hump Day!

Picture Perfect….a Giveaway!!

To start the week off right, I am excited to share an awesome giveaway with you. As many of you know, I am not a ‘review and giveaway’ blog. I am more of a ‘random and crafty’ blog….lol! I have been contacted by a few companies in the past to do reviews and I almost always say no. I don’t want to review or giveaway something I would not use or that I think my readers would not use.

But when I was contacted my Easy Canvas Prints I knew I had to consider this one. They are a company that allows you take your favorite photos and turn them in to beautiful canvas pieces of art. I am great about taking photos, just not so great about printing them out. So when the opportunity presented itself to be able to print a photo….I took it. The hard part was picking a photo. Although I take many, there are few that actually come out good. With 2 young kids, someone is always making a silly face.

Here is the original photo that I chose. It was from our summer vacation at the lake.


I was able to go on to the Easy Canvas Prints site and easily follow the instructions for uploading my picture. There are quite a few options for sizes and borders which I liked.  You can also crop your photo as well. After I completed the order, I waited patiently for it to come in the mail.

I just received it last week and I was so happy. I got the 8x10 canvas and it turned out great. The quality of the canvas is nice and thick.


I chose the 3/4” thick canvas and had my photo wrap around the edges. Again, there are quite a few options you can do for this step.


I knew exactly where it was going….on the shelf in Anthony’s room next to his monkeys!!


It is picture perfect!

Now, the exciting part is that Easy Canvas Prints is going to give one lucky reader and 8x10 canvas just like mine!

All you need to do is leave a comment and tell me where you would place your canvas.

For extra entries you can do the following:
- Like Easy Canvas Prints on Facebook www.facebook.com/easycanvasprints
- Like Easy Canvas Prints on Twitter
http://twitter.com/#!/easycanvas

Please leave one comment for each entry. Be sure to include your email. This contest is open to anyone living in the U.S. and will be open until Friday, September 23rd at midnight. A winner will be selected using Random.org.

Good Luck!

The forgotten engagement present….

Happy Friday!! I hope everyone is winding down from a long week. I know I am ready for the weekend. The weather is getting slightly cooler and I feel like Fall is finally upon us. I am just waiting to pull out my cozy sweaters and leggings!!

Yesterday I scrolled through my phone  to clean out the 90 random pictures that my kids take….lol. I came across some pictures of pillow I had made for my sister for her engagement party. I guess I had forgotten to share. We have a few boutiques in our town that sell beautiful things for the home. Everytime I go in to browse,  I end up in awe and spending more money than I should. I had found a few pillows that I knew she would love and decided to make one myself.

I love how it came out….I think I might be making one for myself .


I used a linen for the pillow base and a soft black lace for the edges. I drew the outline of the form on the pillow and then went over it with black thread on my sewing machine. I added some ribbon for the bottom of the skirt and embellished with a bow from the Dollar Tree.


I added initials to the back of the pillow with fabric paint. But after I did it, I was mad that I did….lol. The next pillow won’t have that.


I am breaking down and opening an Etsy shop. Yeah!! Hopefully I will make some money doing what I love. I am still working on the logistics as well as crafting some merchandise to put in it the shop…lol!






Have a great weekend. Be sure to stop back Monday as I will have a great giveaway!!

Almost Wordless Wednesday…

I needed to unleash a little wild in me so I went for fancy fingers and feet this week……

We will never forget, I will never forget…..

I could not let today pass without a quick post to commemorate the events of yesterday, 9/11.  I know it was all over the news, on every television channel and in every paper to keep us reminded. I watched in the morning, but after a bit I needed to turn it off. I would have cried all day otherwise. To see the children who never got to know a parent was overwhelmingly heartbreaking. I looked at my own kids and thanked God  that I was not in that building that day.

I was working in NYC at the time. I won’t go into all of the details of what happened to me that morning, but it changed all of our lives forever. I kicked off my heels, put on some sneakers and walked. I walked over bridges, I walked and walked. For hours and hours I walked to get home to see my loved ones.

My husband is down at Ground Zero now working to build the underground system that is going beneath all of the buildings. The hard work, long hours and constant reminder to those construction workers needs to be recognized. With them, the family and friends of those lost will now have a place to go to reconnect. 

So, thanks to all of those who are helping to rebuild a bigger and better NYC, a bigger and better USA. And for those who have lost someone, my heart aches for you. Know you have a guardian angel to always protect you.

Back to life…..

Wow…it has been a week since my last post. I am a slacker for sure. I shouldn’t say that. I am not a slacker. I am a woman who is extremely busy with two small kids and a house and a husband to take care of. Something has to give sometimes, right? We can’t do it all all of the time.

The most important event this week is that Christopher started Kindergarten. Yeah!! I wouldn’t be an official blog mom if I didn’t at least show you one picture. The whole experience was great. He was excited to go to school, he was excited to go on the bus. He even woke up early without a fight…LOL!  I knew ahead of time I was going to follow the bus to see what the route was and how long he was actually on the bus before it arrived at school. 

The bus came that morning and he got on and waved goodbye. Done. No looking back, no tears on his part. I got in the car to follow him and then I cried. I knew I would. It is so bittersweet to come the next chapter in our lives, the school years.  As a parent you want them to learn and grow and explore new things. But you also want to keep them little forever.

The school did a great job of organizing the whole arrival process. A teacher came and took the Kindergarteners off of the bus first and lined them up outside their classroom. He was the RED room so he was to look for the red balloons outside the door. The good thing is that there is a door from outside the building right into the Kindergarten classroom.  We watched him line up and got to see him go inside the classroom and sit at his table.  I could not have asked for a better experience.

I think the only downside to the morning was that is was raining. I had to try and hold Anthony, hold the umbrella, takes pictures and try to video. Needless to say, there weren’t too many pictures…LOL!

Yes, Anthony needed to wear his backpack to walk Christopher out to the bus stop :0)



The harder adjustment is going to be on Anthony. He is so used to being with Christopher all day that I think he is going to have to learn to play alone. He will at least get more one on one mommy time. Well, until he starts nursery school next week. I guess I will be crying again.

Now, hopefully we can resume our regularly scheduled life.....

What all mom’s are thinking….

I am happy that it is Friday of Labor Day weekend yet it is a little bittersweet. This is the last weekend before Christopher starts Kindergarten. Next week starts the next chapter of our lives, the school years. I think I am ready though. Especially these last few weeks. No matter how many play dates we have or how many trips we take, they are always still ‘bored’….LOL! We need to get back on a schedule and start fresh.

But, as I have tried to keep them entertained, they have tested my patience. As all kids do. And as mom’s we all start to get frustrated and say and do things that we are not proud of. I happened to be talking to my girlfriend about this and she proceeded to tell me about a great book she was reading. As much as I am not a big fan of reading (well, anything except People and US…LOL), I knew I needed to get this book as soon as I heard the title.

I WAS A REALLY GOOD MOM BEFORE I HAD KIDS – a modern approach to motherhood by Trish Ashworth and Amy Nobile


I am only a few chapters into it, but it is great. It talks about all of the feelings we have as mother’s but don’t always like to share or to admit. It will probably take me a few weeks to read it as I have no time amongst the hundred other things I need to do. But I will finish it!


Have a great Labor Day weekend and go and get this book…