My definition of failure has changed.

Welcome to my house. Behind these doors is where my definition of failure has changed. Dramatically. It's true.

 Years ago- last year, even- I would have considered finishing Fin's Christmas stocking on the day AFTER Christmas a failure, but now not so much. Now I say: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED. Job well done. Way to go, Ryanne! You're a rock star. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a tad, but really, when I finished, instead of thinking, "ugh, finally. Sucks that I didn't finish 2 DAYS AGO!" I thought, "Awesome. Done and done!" Who cares if it didn't go up this year. I feel like having 2 small and demanding children and a puppy (I consider the older dog and husband to be a wee bit more self-sufficient) increases the level of difficulty of pretty much everything I do. So on a scale of 1 to 10, I'd say to all you (what, 5 people??) reading that this stocking project is a level 2 in difficulty (and only a 2 because it requires the use of a sewing machine). Unless you have a child. Or a puppy. Or even worse, children AND puppies, then I'd say level of difficulty: 8.
But HOORAY for cute polka dot stockings with ruffle trim for my dear sweet daughter (deer- get it??)! For those of you that got one of my cheesy Christmas cards, I apologize for my overuse of this homophone.

sparkletastic stocking stuffers

My girlfriend, M, sent me a link to an easy earring tutorial and I picked up supplies on my last trip to Michaels (3rd trip of the week...)  It doesn't get any easier than this folks. And cheap affordable, too! The clip-on earrings I found were $2 for 14 pieces (7 pairs) and the pack of rhinestones was $2 or $3 for 55 pieces- with the discounts Michaels always has, I ended up making 14 pairs of earrings for less than 35 cents a pair- you can't beat that! I plan to put a few pairs in Fin's stocking and give a few to her friends, too. It took me all of 5 minutes to make these, but I had the most fun with the tags- not that Fin or her friends can read, but whatever :P  

Merry marbled ornaments, oh my!

Sooooo, I love my kids. Really I do. More than anything on earth, but sometimes I can't wait for them to grow up. I know, it's not right. They'll grow up before I know it and I'll wish they were little again, etc, etc, but really- I'd like to sleep through the night. Just once. And not have to be constantly concerned with Wyatt choking or falling or otherwise getting into trouble. And I'm really looking forward to crafting with Finley. I'm sure she'll be completely uninterested by the time I can trust the girl with a pair of scissors, but I have this vision of us hanging out, chatting it up, crafting our hearts out. And she shows potential- really she does. Well, we did some crafting yesterday and aside from a bit of paint on her shirt. and the counter. and the floor. It went pretty well!
My friend, Jen, is pretty awesome. She's one of my most favorite people. She's super quirky- in a good way. She's really into Christmas. She's had a big beautiful wreath on her front door since before Halloween. If you ask her, she'll tell you it's a Georgia Bulldog wreath- not a Christmas wreath, but it's totally a Georgia Bulldog Christmas wreath. And she's gone a little nuts shopping for her two girls. But her tree. Well, her tree is sadly neglected. Well, the majority of the tree. The bottom is adorned with a super lush tree skirt. SUPER lush. Gorgeous. Fantastic. Skirt. And then she has white lights, a star on top and about 10 ornaments. Yeah- 10. 10 ornaments on a 7 foot tree. I know! So, Fin and I decided to make Ms. Jenn some ornaments. We picked up some of the clear glass ornaments, popped the tops off and squirted in about a tsp each of red, white and green paint. I taped over the opening and let Finley go to town shaking and swirling the ornament until the inside was completely (err, mostly) covered. We placed each upside down in a dixie cup so the excess paint could drip out and let them dry (err, mostly) before putting the cap back on each. It gives the ornaments a marbled look.
 If you add a tiny bit of water before it's fully coated and shake it up, you'll get a speckled effect:

We did another six with blue, white, and a metallic pewter. 

 Fin and I had a great time and Fin can't wait to give Ms. Jenn her new ornaments! Now she'll have a whopping 25 ornaments on her tree! Woot!
This is a great craft to do with your kiddos- and turn out pretty fantastic looking. Soooo, if you're looking for a gift for Grandma and Grandpa from the kiddos, give it a shot :) Not that they don't deserve sherpa slippers or a cashmere throw, but if you're looking for something sentimental, this is great- and won't fall apart like the sandpaper gingerbread man with googly eyes or clothespin Rudolph- although, they're pretty dang cute, too.
Merry Christmas, y'all!

No, I didn't forget my password!

I'm just super lame and lazy and I haven't done too much of anything lately other than chase my crazy kids around :D But, I'm feeling a productive streak coming on again, and it started with finishing my coffee table- yea! Woot, woot! Woot, woot! Yeah, that's right. It's been about 3.5 years since we've had a coffee table, so even my husband was excited about me finishing this project. I don't know why it's been so long, I just couldn't ever commit. Remember I took the big plunge a while back and bought a hideous set of two end tables and a coffee table?? How could you forget? It was the last post I made. A loooong time ago. So, maybe you did forget. Anyhow- here she is before:

And here she is now:

Yea for coffee tables! I decided to go with a creamy off white and some distressing, which you can't really see all that much in the photos, but it's there. I purchased a buffet/dresser thing yesterday, so that will be coming up soon in the same color to house the tv- I'm super excited!!
Okay, that's it. Have a great day :)