26 Follow Me on Twitter and Win!

I'm going to bribe you guys a little bit.  I've been obsessed with Twitter now that I finally took the plunge, but I really want more people to interact with, you know, like we do on my Facebook page.  So to get you guys to come follow me I am offering a $50 Gift Certificate to seven thirty three - - - custom blog design to one lucky Twitter follower!

  TO ENTER:  Go to my Twitter page and click Follow... it would be nice if you left me a lovely little message too.  Then come back here and leave a comment telling me you have done so.  I will pick a winner this Friday at Noon EST.  

61 The Attic Light GIVEAWAY! {$30 Gift Card to Pottery Barn}

The Attic Light is an online venue where we showcase unique handmade items at privileged-membership savings. Our goal is to bridge the gap between your items and interested buyers. In doing so, this will bring more exposure to your shop and also bring the recognition you deserve.

When you think of all those treasures, hidden in that space below your roof you realize the purpose of The Attic Light. It is there to shed a brilliant beam of light, and guide you to the box that contains that unique item you may have not known was there.

3 I {heart} Productive Weekends

 Working full-time while trying to get projects done can be frustrating.  Especially when you're a person that wants a project completed the same day you started it!  My basement remodel has been coming along nicely, but unfortunately things like work and small family vacations have slowed the progress.  But this past weekend I got a TON completed!  And my poor vomiting children lounging on the couch actually helped me accomplish that!  I feel horrible for my poor kiddos that had a 24 hour bug and do not wish them to get it again, but because they were under the weather they were content with watching TV and napping on the couch, which allowed me to paint my entire basement.  We were covering a deep orange with a light tan, so I purchased the primer and paint in one.  It worked wonders and for the most part one coat did the job, but to be on the safe side we went with two.  I also managed to sew all new curtains for my three windows and one for a crawl space as well.  And Wednesday of last week I completed dust covers for both my Cricut and my sewing machine.  I am almost ready to reveal the whole space - I plan on drawing the outline and hopefully painting the chalkboard onto the wall after work tonight and I also need to hang a picture.  My stools should be in tomorrow and then it is complete! I am so excited about this space, and I think my kids are almost as happy as me.  It is so much more functional for us as a family and for me as a crafter.  I'm just in love and can not wait to show it off!  

1 14 Lovingly Sweet Handmade Valentines

1.  "I Dig You" Valentines by Fry Family (Free Printable)
2. Friendship Blossoms at Disney Family Fun     3. Airplane Valentine by Giverslog (Free Printable)

1 Pink Tiara Cookies for Three Winner

 Congrats goes to Alicia Seeley for winning the Pink Tiara Cookies for Three book and cookie cutter from Maria Dismondy! Check your email Alicia.

2 Happy Birthday to my Dear Sweet Husband!

This past Tuesday was my hubbies 33rd Birthday!  We are actually celebrating it on Sunday with dinner at his parents, but we couldn't just let his actual birthday slide without doing anything.  On my way home from work I snagged a yummy Ice Cream Cake.  The night before I had created this little banner, printed it out and attached it to two wood skewers.  I got home, brought the cake down to my craft room inserted the skewers and set it aside to thaw a bit while we ate dinner.  The kids were so excited when I ran downstairs and came back up with my yummy treat, and my hubby was totally surprised since he wasn't expecting anything!  And ummmm-mmmm was it delicious! In case you want to make your own birthday cake banner - you can download the file here (different color options too!).

1 What are little boys made of? #96

Grab the button!

<center><a href="http://733blog.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_yA_6K7ea4aE/S2MN8810hYI/AAAAAAAABXo/fW6dM7Ksyos/s320/WALBMO.jpg" /></a></center>

Party Guidelines: 1) please link to your blog post (not your blog main page) so people can go directly to your project and 2) Enter your blog name and in paranthesis add the name of your project so we can clearly see what it is 3) Don't forget, these should be BOY RELATED (Big Boy projects are accepted too)! AND PLEASE grab my button!

5 Sugar & Spice #95

 Grab the button!

Copy and paste into your blog.

<center><a href="http://733blog.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_yA_6K7ea4aE/S6130M3H_II/AAAAAAAABuI/Sl7dtOkX0C4/s320/SugarSpice.png" /></a></center>

The party guidelines are: 1) please link to your blog post (not your blog main page) so people can go directly to your project 2) Don't forget, these should be GIRL RELATED (can be for us grown up girls too)! 3) AND PLEASE grab my button and add it to your post so that other crafty ladies can come join the fun.

36 Blog Tour - Pink Tiara Cookies for Three with GIVEAWAY!

I was so excited when Maria Dismondy, author of Pink Tiara Cookies for Three, contacted me to see if I would be interested in participating in her Pink Tiara Cookies Blog Tour.  After reading up on Maria I decided I DEFINITELY wanted to participate!  Her books are not only good reads, but they have a moral and help children learn wrong from right in regards to bullying.  Maria sent me her new book, Pink Tiara Cookies for Three on sale now at Amazon OR if you purchase directly from her site, http://www.mariadismondy.com/Products/3/18/Pink-Tiara-Cookies/, you can get an autographed copy!  If you are interested in following the rest of the tour, click here too see what's up next!  Maria sent me a copy of Pink Tiara Cookies for Three and my daughters and I sat down to read it as soon as it came in.  The pictures are beautiful and so colorful and my girls really enjoyed the story.  My 2.5 year old enjoyed looking at the pictures and my older daughter understood the concept of making new friends and accepting them into your group.  It really was a win-win book!

6 Angry Bird Soda Can Game

While out shopping this weekend in New Hampshire the family and I went  to Pheasant Lane Mall, which has a wonderful Target attached.  While there my son came across an Angry Bird board game that cost $18.  I thought it was a little pricey and remembered pinning THIS on Pinterest.  I told my son that we could make the game and he should choose a different toy.  He was all about that and went off to pick something else.  Fast forward to the next day when we arrived home.  I had JUST stepped through the door and out of his mouth was "can we make the Angry Bird game?"  After unpacking and doing what I needed to do, I went to see what we had for supplies.  Unfortunately recycling had already been taken for the week so we didn't have any cans.  I did have some soda bottles that didn't make it into recycling so I grabbed those, some construction paper, markers, an oil pastel, ball, paints and glue stick.  This is the Angry bird game we came up with: It works PERFECTLY and he LOVES it, so that is what matters!  He didn't want to do any of the drawing, although I offered to let him!

3 What are little boys made of? #95

Grab the button!

<center><a href="http://733blog.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_yA_6K7ea4aE/S2MN8810hYI/AAAAAAAABXo/fW6dM7Ksyos/s320/WALBMO.jpg" /></a></center>

Party Guidelines: 1) please link to your blog post (not your blog main page) so people can go directly to your project and 2) Enter your blog name and in paranthesis add the name of your project so we can clearly see what it is 3) Don't forget, these should be BOY RELATED (Big Boy projects are accepted too)! AND PLEASE grab my button!

6 Sugar & Spice #94

 Grab the button!

Copy and paste into your blog.

<center><a href="http://733blog.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_yA_6K7ea4aE/S6130M3H_II/AAAAAAAABuI/Sl7dtOkX0C4/s320/SugarSpice.png" /></a></center>

The party guidelines are: 1) please link to your blog post (not your blog main page) so people can go directly to your project 2) Don't forget, these should be GIRL RELATED (can be for us grown up girls too)! 3) AND PLEASE grab my button and add it to your post so that other crafty ladies can come join the fun.

5 Empower

I have a new favorite phrase:"She believed she could so she did." It just strikes a cord with me and I really wanted that inspirational message in my think tank area, so I created this colorful 8x8 image, printed it out and stuck it on my corkboard. 

And of course I want to empower other women out there, so click HERE to get your own free printable!

4 Working on my craft room...

I had a very productive weekend and am so excited that I have really begun working on my basement.  My basement has gone through several transformations since we moved in 5 years ago and I think we are finally getting it to where it was meant to be: a combo playroom/craft room!  We have a L shaped basement so a portion will be a play area for the kids and the other portion will be my crafting area.  It works perfectly for us.  I have rearranged all of the furniture, organized all of my supplies and the childrens toys and threw out or donated a TON!  I have ordered several cubbie bookshelves - if you are interested, I ordered these Martha Stewart Cubbies for Home Depot.  After arguing with my husband about getting rid of our very big and bulky office desk (he wanted to keep it because it cost $1K and I want to get rid of it because it isn't conducive to crafting and hey - I'm the only one that uses it!), I have finally convinced him that it is OK to let go.  I will be building myself a counter height craft table in the next few weeks and I can not WAIT until I pull everything together and can get to using it!  I still need to paint too... I've been putting that off... I hate painting!  I wish you all were in VT with me, I'd totally invite you over for a painting party with great music and even better drinks!
I also made some fabric organizers out of foam core, and a pin cushion out of a large mason jar.  On top of all of this organization I also organized my laundry room/storage space in the basement, my master closet and my linen closet!  I was on a roll.  I also got to have a date night with the hubby, go to breakfast with my extended family and grandparents, and played on the snow machine and went sledding!  It was a great weekend!
I am going to wait to reveal my final transformation, but I'll leave you with an image of what my craft area did look like:

Make sure to keep your eye out because the big reveal will hopefully be coming in the next few weeks.  We are going away next weekend so my hope is to paint the following weekend.  We have to take that big old desk apart to get it out of the basement, and I need to find a home for it still.  Still lots of work to do but it will be worth it in the end!

4 HOW TO: Add Floating Social Media Share Buttons

Would you like to add social media share buttons along the side of your blog?  You know, the ones that allow users to click and share your blog or blog post?  There is a SUPER simple way to do so just by adding html code into a html gadget and placing in your sidebar or below your post section of your design tab, depending on where you want your buttons to appear.  Visit Amazing World's Floating Social Media Share Buttons post to get the code and get sharing today!

6 HOW-TO: Enable Threaded Commenting

Blogger has enabled Threaded Commenting (Replying directly to comments in the comment field) with its new interface.  Learn how to enable your threaded commenting with Blogger Buzz.  If your threaded comments don't show up after doing this, it may be because of a custom template.  Visit Simple Blogger Tutorials for a work around.

NOTE: If you have your comments numbered, this new threaded feature seems to interefere with the numbering.  Proceed with caution!



2 What are little boys made of? #94

Grab the button!

<center><a href="http://733blog.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_yA_6K7ea4aE/S2MN8810hYI/AAAAAAAABXo/fW6dM7Ksyos/s320/WALBMO.jpg" /></a></center>

Party Guidelines: 1) please link to your blog post (not your blog main page) so people can go directly to your project and 2) Enter your blog name and in paranthesis add the name of your project so we can clearly see what it is 3) Don't forget, these should be BOY RELATED (Big Boy projects are accepted too)! AND PLEASE grab my button!

2 Let's Talk Clothes

 {my everyday wear}I love clothes.  I typically stick with darker colors, just because they look better with my skin and body.  I also wear all sorts of styles.  I'm not set in stone with my style.  Jeans, shirts, and layers are my everyday wear.  For work I wear young and modern career outfits, more towards the casual side.
When eShakti contacted me to possibly do a review, I was excited to check them out.  The only thing I'd ever seen about them was an ad or two online, but I had never been onto their website.  So of course I headed right over to eshakti.com.  And I was stoked when I got there.  The VERY first thing I noticed?  They offer customization on all of their items! You have the option to make  custom changes in the style of the garment – sleeve, neckline and length can all be changed.  You put in your measurements and they'll tailor and customize the clothes for you starting at only $7.50 (FREE the first time you custom)! 
They offer tons of styles and a full size selection from size 0-26W and custom sizes too.  Dresses, tops, sweaters & cardigans, skirts, scarves and jackets!  You can get it all at eShakti.  And the shipping is quick - within 3 days your garment will be in the mail, even custom pieces!

6 Sugar & Spice #93

 Grab the button!

Copy and paste into your blog.

<center><a href="http://733blog.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_yA_6K7ea4aE/S6130M3H_II/AAAAAAAABuI/Sl7dtOkX0C4/s320/SugarSpice.png" /></a></center>

The party guidelines are: 1) please link to your blog post (not your blog main page) so people can go directly to your project 2) Don't forget, these should be GIRL RELATED (can be for us grown up girls too)! 3) AND PLEASE grab my button and add it to your post so that other crafty ladies can come join the fun.

20 The year of 30!

This year I turn 30.  My husband has been reminding me of that since the New Year rang in.  I'm not a person that gets hung up on age, but leaving my 20's does do funny things to my insides... a little.  I figure if he is going to razz me for the next 7 months, the most he can do is throw me a big 3-0 bash, right?  So I've created a Pinterest board where I am storing fun ideas and I'm hoping my Facebook/Pinterest friends will clue him in.  I'm dropping sneaky hints.  I mean, I can't plan my own birthday party!   UPDATE: All downloads now available via Google Docs.

Invite

Cupcake Toppers

Water Bottle Labels

11 HOW TO: Add a Pin It button to all your Posts - Automatically!

Major shout out to Mandy of Sugar Bee Crafts for tracking down this great how-to!  I've had many clients ask me if I knew of a way to add a pin-it button to their blog posts.  I would direct them to the post I did on how to add one manually, but Mandy found a way to add it so that it works across all posts!  So stop by clickin moms Add a Pinterest "Pin It" Button to All of your Posts post to learn how!  And then head over to Sugar Bee Crafts and tell Mandy how awesome you think she is! For those who may have questions on where to put the html provided by Clickin Moms, I am going to clarify.  Go to the post, copy the html and then come back here and I'll tell you what to do with!  Go ahead, I'll wait.  Alright, now that you are back, open a new tab or window and go to your Blogger Dashboard.  Click on SETTINGS.  Click on FORMATTING.  Scroll to the very bottom of the page and paste the html code into the post template box.  Click SAVE.  Create a New Post and you'll see your sweet little Pin It button waiting for you!

2 What are little boys made of? #93

Grab the button!

<center><a href="http://733blog.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_yA_6K7ea4aE/S2MN8810hYI/AAAAAAAABXo/fW6dM7Ksyos/s320/WALBMO.jpg" /></a></center>

Party Guidelines: 1) please link to your blog post (not your blog main page) so people can go directly to your project and 2) Enter your blog name and in paranthesis add the name of your project so we can clearly see what it is 3) Don't forget, these should be BOY RELATED (Big Boy projects are accepted too)! AND PLEASE grab my button!

1 Sugar & Spice #92

Looking for tips on vacation rentals and money-saving ideas for our 2013 Disney World trip.  Stop by my Facebook page and wow me with your recommendations!  Anyone with sweet connections welcome to share.  LOL!

 Grab the button!

Copy and paste into your blog.

<center><a href="http://733blog.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_yA_6K7ea4aE/S6130M3H_II/AAAAAAAABuI/Sl7dtOkX0C4/s320/SugarSpice.png" /></a></center>

The party guidelines are: 1) please link to your blog post (not your blog main page) so people can go directly to your project 2) Don't forget, these should be GIRL RELATED (can be for us grown up girls too)! 3) AND PLEASE grab my button and add it to your post so that other crafty ladies can come join the fun.