{creating}

I have been working on projects in between everything else, which makes doing anything totally CRAZY!  Here are some of the projects completed... (Birthday party invites are good motivators!)

This bag was purchased as a 4 pack from Walmart most likely.  Kate picked out the font she liked and we used Heat-n-Bond to attach the letter on to the bag, then added a rosette.

I love composition books!  I would have a ton of them and ideally I would love to have one of these cute comp book covers on each of them.  Maybe some day.  Kate picked the fabric from Hobby Lobby.  We used Heat-n-Bond (great stuff ladies for those of you who don't sew...or like to cheat) to attach the ribbon and M.  The little girl was so excited and loved it!  

We added a few rosettes and I used some scrap fabric and hot glue to cover a pen to match.

For my SIL who loves a good cup of coffee I made this coffee cozy.  I found the directions online (thanks to Pinterest!) but since I did this last weekend I don't remember where since I didn't bookmark it.  This is seriously one of the easiest of all the sewing projects I have ever done.  I even hand sewed the button which I don't usually have the patience for hand sewing.  I made two of these.  She loved them!

This isn't a craft project and notice it is a comp book without a cute cover (which kills me because I so want to make one).  I found this idea on Pinterest and loved it.  I just started this with Anna.  She has so many words and wants to always be sure she is fully heard.  I introduced this idea to her.  She can write me notes, good or sad or bad, and I will write her back.  She can draw me pictures or whatever she wants.  I can do the same back to her.  So far, we are both LOVING IT!  It is amazing to see her so happy when she writes to me and then receive some love back.  I plan on doing the same with Kate but maybe with a twist.  Kate LOVES to read....but she is stuck in one genre:  MYSTERY!  Nancy Drew, Boxcar Children, etc.  So....my idea is for the two of us to read the same book, taking turns to pick, and write back and forth to one another about the story.  Hopefully by doing this I can also model to her how to think about characters, setting, plot, etc.  Our first book is going to be The Secret Garden.  She is familiar with the story line so this will help with understanding and interest...hopefully!  

Update on Chore Charts:  They worked AWESOME the first week!  Isn't that the way it always rolls?  Why is that?  ARGH!  So I still love the idea but am working to tweak it just a bit.  We'll see how it goes.  Chores definitely always keeps us well aware of our sinful nature.  HA!