Nearly 2012...

So its nearly 2012, time to look over the last year and set goals for the coming year. I guess the biggest thing over the last year was moving house. I've realised it takes a long time to unpack, settle in and to get organised. You have to find new places for things and you realise you need more storage. So in 2012 i aim to become freakishly organised. I aim to be fantastically frugal this year. I need to lose this weight once and for all. I want to continue my crafts old and new, my scrap booking but also now my sewing. Later on in the year i'll be able to restart work on the garden and finally grow our own vegetables, etc. So thats plenty to be getting on with as well as being a mam to two highly active young un's. So where to start...i purchased cynthia townley ewer's 'cut the clutter' and i'm working through that book, taking notes and starting to actively declutter. I will make more gifts this coming year, the gifts i made this year did go down well but i need to make more time for it all this year.

IDEA: birthdays for kids over the next year...my daughters always being invited to parties of school friends and it can get quite expensive...if i can make some kids aprons, i have discovered fabric glue, i plan to glue the kids name onto the apron, add a wooden spoon tied with a ribbon and a cake bake pack ( can get these from as little as 29p-59p at home bargains), this would be a lovely personalisd present for as little as a pound x

IDEA: start making birthday cards now and store in a file so that when a birthday comes i have a card ready instead of getting into a mad rush to produce something worth sending

IDEA: to start towards the majorly organised freak that i want to be i'm going to create a pretty but practical family control center or in other words an area with the family calender, weeks meal menus and a note board. Need to find say 4 ornate frames that i'm going to paint, then fill two with cork for pins to go in and two with wipeable plastic fronts for wiping. Will photograph this when i am done, very excited to do all this. Hope it works, as at the moment i am lazy, unorganised, unmotivated, messy and scatty!!! Eek, i have a lot to do, hee hee x

Some of my makes...

So I have actually been making just not uploading, I'm hopeless at actually taking the photos, or is it finding the camera!

So here is one of my photos of what i made wednesday and thursday...will post more photos later. These are super easy to make. I love them I'm going to get a second tree this year for all my handmade endeavours x

Addicted to pinterest...

OH MY GOODNESS, OH MY WORD, OH MY OH MY OH MY... I am totally addicted to this site and feel like i've started a crafting revolution by introducing people to this site too. I love it, i spend ages sifting through all the fantastic craft projects, art works, tutorials and ideas for just about anything. Its hard to stay off it, it's so fabulous. Anyway i have to give myself a challenge here to actually make one thing off pinterest a day for the next week, so tonight is my first night and when i'm done i'll post a photo (after i trawl all my pins for a project i can do with stuff i have in the house). Well good luck me x

In memory on 9/11 x

I found this video, i cried at the story but i also cried when the parents cried, u could really see their pride and yet their sadness. I know this is just one story of hundreds out there of amazing bravery.

The link is:
http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=GB#/watch?v=wwWzjjbIISw

Turning into your mams

I spent the evening with some friends last thursday night. Some of who I've known since they were born and after not seeing them for some time it was amazing to see how much they've turned out like their mams. I mean they both look kind of like their mams but it was more the way they spoke and their mannerisms and stuff. Sometimes if i shut my eyes it would of been like their mams were in the room. I got to wondering if anyone thought I was like my mam in any way. It would be the ultimate compliment if anybody thought I was. It's funny as well because when you're younger that's the last thing you want is to turn into your mam but when you get to my age it's what you aspire to. It got me thinking of what things I can do to be more like my mam. I've grown up to have a lot of the same likes and hobbies but housework wise and being organised I'm just not up to scratch on. I need to do more for other people too as she loved serving others and spent a lot of time doing that. I'll keep trying though :-)

CHRISTMAS x

It's never too early to get prepared for christmas, and for the last two or three years I've followed the grand plan on www.organizedchristmas.com to get myself organised for the festive season. It's not just about the gift buying, it's about having the house cleaned top to bottom, everything stocked up and ready for dinners, parties, etc; and all the gifts sorted as early as possible including hand made gifts. I love it when i'm all organised like this and then i can hibernate over the winter period, especially the christmas holidays. The year I was expecting my little boy all pressies where bought and wrapped by the end of september as he was coming along in november! crazy some people may say, crazy but organised, therefore I am calm and unstressed which makes for some happy holidays. I hate shopping 1. in bad weather 2. With babies in prams and 3. in the christmas chaos where everyones freaking out and bumping you all over. We as a family like to visit the metrocentre at christmas solely to laugh at the freaking out and walk around chilled and enjoy a nice meal out knowing we are all sorted for christmas.

This year because of moving however my shopping will have to be made a little later this year, octobers pay packet will have to do the majority of the shopping as we have had to pay for a new bathroom and a new garage roof. This is very late for me though so I intend to have my lists and I will do one day where I visit some toy shops and the rest will be done all at once online. I'm thinking probably amazon, so that I don't have to have millions of deliveries too.
I love handmade gifts and am getting together with some friends tomorrow to get some ideas going and hopefully learn a bit of sewing. I am also browsing the charity shops for cheapo gifts too.

I will definitely be making cards this year and some mini scrapbooks. Here are some of my cards I made a couple of years ago. They are quite basic and I am so much better than that now. Also here is a picture of my reindeer flannels. I made these for little lasses nursery teachers one year and they loved them. I've also made shabby chic signs for teachers too, they have cost nothing to make as I have already had the materials for them.







So the first week of the grand plan is list week. I have this week to make a christmas planner (which I half did last night), make all the list suggested like for example food lists, gift lists, etc; and then you have to thoroughly declutter and clean the porch (which I have done). I just need a couple of mats at the front door and a shoe tidy for keeping wet wellies on and stuff and then I'll be ready.

Ooh I made this box one year and am yet to finish it, inside has a book for photos!



I love this picture of little lassie.



Oh and here's a close up of our tree, my hubby is disney obsessed so we have a tree of grolier disney ornaments, this is the only one I could find so I'll try and dig out some more!



Here's another one I love of little lassie and titch last christmas.xxx



Happy planning everyone. Anyone else think the planning is the best bit? :-)

Things just got exciting...

I read loads of blogs and am always looking for new blogs to read. A few new blogs came about this week and i'm going to mention a couple of them as they have got me all excited about blogging again. They've also got me excited about other things too, crafting, being thrifty, setting goals, but mostly just about being myself and enjoying being a stay at home mam/ housewife.
The first blog i have to mention is that of a good friend who i have grown up with. We've know each other for years, since we were born really. I hadn't seen her for years and then we cross paths again for one reason or another. We start chatting on facebook, etc; and i come to realise we have loads in common. I thought i would love to read a blog written by this mam and she has started one, it's going to be great and already is right up my street. Read this blog at: http://thenotsoperfecthousewifeblog.wordpress.com/

The other blog i found is so honest and familiar, it's a great read. I loved the article she wrote where she posted a photo of a room that some would call messy but some would call lived in. I clicked the follow button when i read that she often gets comments about her being a single mam with two children very close in age, people say to her "wow you must have your hands full" to which she replies "if you think my hands are full you should see my heart". Such a beautiful sentiment, fab blog at : http://notsosuzy.blogspot.com/

So lets see if i can stay true to my word and get back into more regular blogging, there seems a point to blogging when you think someone might actually be reading.