Cute Flower necklace

Yep, another Vintage Groove creation. Seriously, these are so easy and turn out SO well, I feel that there will be many more to come in the very near future. If you're related to me - don't look! You may be getting one of these beauties for Christmas :)
Started with the same antique gold chain as last time but went for another color scheme. First was this pendant! So awesome because it comes JUST LIKE YOU SEE IT! The cute circle with the glazed petite flower center and the long strand with complimentary beads of all sizes. Just attach it with the jump ring on the top and move next! Next comes the cute little red flower finding that adds a visual break in the line of the chain. Takes all of two minutes to add in with a handy pair of round tip pliers :) Love it!Lastly I added a small ceramic flower in a complimentary coral color to the opposite side for a bit more interest - again...2 minutes tops.If you're like me & LOVE the instant gratification, then this is for YOU! Ten or fifteen minutes and VOILA - you've got an awesome accessory that will cost $10-12 at most if you use your Michael's coupons. Plus, when you get compliments on them (which you will) you can take pride when you say "Thanks, I made it!"

Wanna know where to find the goods? The Michael's in the Draper Peaks shopping center on 12300 South in Draper. There's an end cap display that looks like THIS:

While Michael's doesn't yet carry the entire line YET, they have a pretty good selection. This is the only Michael's in Utah that carries the Vintage Groove line so far. If we can show them how much we LOVE the products by purchasing them, then they will bring in the entire line, which includes pearl strands, bead strands and MORE. Let's show some LOVE!

Antique Rose Necklace

So my first endeavor with the Vintage Groove line from Making Memories is this Antique Rose necklace. I started with the gold vintage chain with varied link sizes.

To it I added a jade colored flower and the rose & leaves pendant from the same set of findings.

Next came the twig shaped extra that gets connected to the links of the chain from both ends. This creates a break and focal point in the necklace. Attached to the center is a third jump ring to which you can attach another pendant or finding, in which I used a light pink bevelled teardrop shaped jem.

These colors go SO well together and made a bold enough statement to stand out but the colors are soft enough to go with just about anything!

They've thought of every detail in the design of the Vintage Groove products! Even down to these cute little charms on the end of the chain! A little metal "M" for Making Memories and a darling little bird with "JS' for Jill Schwartz, the mastermind behind it all!

The best part? It took maybe 10 or 15 minutes start to finish! All you need is a pair (or two) of needle nose pliers! Want one for yourself? Visit the Michael's craft store at 215 East 12300 South in Draper, Utah! Questions? Send me a message - would love to hear your thoughts!

Vintage Groove

We all know that Making Memories is one of THE premiere scrapbooking manufacturers in existence. Now they've taken it to the next level with the introduction of the Vintage Groove jewelry line by Jill Schwartz!

It's a mix n match eclectic group of chains, pendants and designer style findings that have LIMITLESS combinations. These are so fun to work with and you can choose which element YOU like for a custom look that suits YOUR style.

Making Memories has just sent a trial line of product to SELECT Michael's stores throughout the United States, one of which is right here in Draper, Utah. These are so affordable and you can be as creative as you want to be with the DIY elements. TALK ABOUT EASY AND AWESOME CHRISTMAS GIFTS!!!

Here's a few shots of the display in the Draper, Utah Michael's just to give you an idea of how darling some of the pieces are:

Most of the Designer Combinations are $5.99 to $7.99. Same with the chains and pendants, so $12 gets you an awesome necklace or multiple bracelets and that's NOT figuring in any of those 40% OFF coupons that come in the paper every Sunday. PLUS Michael's will take "competitor" coupons too :) Happy day! Very affordable for everyday OR for great gifts!

So go check 'em out for yourself - Michael's in the Draper Peaks shopping center off 12300 south! If they sell well, Making Memories will bring the Vintage Groove line to ALL Michael's - so let's show them some LOVE!

New Family Members

Ever since we got back from Kelli's house, the kids have been talking about Speedy the turtle. He IS very cute and IS fun but I'm not sure that we need a turtle. With 3 kids and a LARGE dog, we really don't have much time for another pet.

That being said, we have found a compromise.....FISH.

I'm not a big fish fan, but Lauren has been talking about a fish for quite some time and Nolan gets so excited when we discuss it. So when we went to my mom's house last weekend to help her with her garage sale, my sister had a fish tank for sale. Done! Easy! Cheap! If it didn't work, no big expense to feel bad about. Right?

Not quite. The tank didn't have a pump. Going down to Petco to get one would've been $40. A whole new fish tank WITH a pump, goodies for the inside AND fish food was $45. Another decision made easy.

SO today we brought home our new friends.

Nolan got to choose the names....Bob and Patrick. So original for two fellows that live under the sea, huh?

Mushrooms!

Ordinarily fungi are NOT that intriguing. Unless they're in a Parmesan cream sauce or dipped in ranch dressing :) But after seeing a cute post over at OhDeeDoh, I had to try my hand at putting together a terrarium of my own with a couple of cute mushrooms!.

My first stop was Etsy.com, of course, to search for cute little mushrooms of the clay variety. After not finding any that 1) fit what I was looking for or 2) was worth paying for, my typical crafty nature said the ever popular phrase "I can TOTALLY make those!" So without further adieu, a trip to Michael's ensued.

I came home with Crayola Model Magic of all things! It was one of those crazy trips with ALL the kids in tow that quickly turned into an "OK! Let's get the heck out of here before I lose my mind!" Couldn't locate the FIMO or SCULPY so Crayola Model Magic it was...sorry didn't take any pics but it's easy to find anywhere. Also, picked up some black sand and preserved sheet moss...no LIVE plants involved. If you knew me, you wouldn't question why :) And these cute Apothecary jars were buy one get one free! Even better.

I first shaped the stems and skewered a toothpick inside to be able to put it into the moss. Then grabbed the first thing I could find after realizing they'd need 24 hours to dry and I couldn't lay them flat. Lucky for me there was a tasty box of Everlasting Gobstoppers nearby!

Fast forward 24 hours...I painted the mushroom caps with my trusty Making Memories acrylic paint and added white dots with the end of a Q-tip...easy peasy! Then BACK into the Everlasting Gobstopper box they went to stand & air dry once again.

Assembly was so easy....dump in some sand, use the lid as a template to cut the sheet moss & add it on top of the sand then poke in the cute little clay fungi! Ta-duh! With the exception of the dry time for the clay & paint phases, this really only took less than a half an hour. And they're SUPER cute!

This was a great project: fun, easy, inexpensive and I can't kill it! Perfect :) Next I'm going to try my hand at sculpting some other types of fun things to add to the terrariums. We'll see how it goes.

We {heart} birthdays!

It's so difficult to believe that my middle child is turning TWELVE! It's that awkward age; no longer a child but not yet a teenager. The top of the ladder (6th grade) in elementary school but soon to go straight back down to the bottom in middle school.

We didn't really have a "theme" per se, however, she did want to camp out in the backyard.

So we set up the tent, the goodies and the fire pit for a night of giggles & treats!

All of the paper goods I made using the awesome works of Rhonna Farrer / House of 3, including the cupcake wrappers, water bottles, banners, napkin rings, name tags and decor for the candy jars! Rhonna is my all-time favorite designer and you will LOVE everything he does!
{Marshmallow pops!}
{the cupcakes BEFORE baby brother swiped his fingers through!}
The girls all had so much fun and actually got a little bit of sleep. They came in early the next morning for some homemade cinnamon rolls & OJ!

Happy birthday, Mira! Love you, sweets xoxo