Storybook Art - Green Pepper Shamrock Prints

Now that it's March, it's time to crack out the St. Patty's Day books. Today we read The Luckiest Leprechaun. ER liked it because one of the main characters is a dog and she's all about puppies right now. This one has the typical grouchy leprechaun who's world is turned upside down by a dog named Lucky who accidentally digs up part of his home beneath a tree in a park. Short version: the leprechaun can't get rid of the Lucky, until one day she chases away a Professor who's trying to prove the existance of leprechauns. The leprechaun finally realizes that friendship is more important than gold.

I liked this book because it's really about the importance of friendship and has some very general references to St. Patrick's day folklore, such as who leprechauns are in the first place, which she'd never heard about before.
For our storytime art, we made green bell pepper shamrock prints. Cut one bell pepper in half, dip in a shallow container filled with a little green paint, and then made prints on our paper. They do kind of look like shamrocks, if you think of it as abstract art! Ours even had four little sides so it was a lucky four leaf clover shamrock. This also ties into our on going color studies. She really enjoyed it too, although they may have looked more like shamrocks before I attempted to add little stems, cause I am not an ar-tist!

Organizing My Crafting Room Part 1

Working on this has been my weekend project. I had to take everything off the shelving unit we got at Ikea two moves ago, so Brad could move it right up against the wall, and then put it all back on again. It was a hassle but worth it as I gave me a chance to dust and change things up a bit. It's so much nicer having things put away so I can find them again.

I was trying to go for a pink and green theme but it's so hard with all the random colored organizers and scrapbook covers, plus this is meant to be the future nursery if and when we ever have a second child so I don't want to invest too much in redoing everything for this space when it might not work in it's next space. I guess this is the in the meantime design. BTW I do realize how lucky I am to have this space at all and that I really shouldn't complain. In CA I had a desk in the corner and two shelves in a closet.
Our office is a narrow room so I can't get a good picture standing directly across from it, but on the top are two cute little containers I found at Home Goods and I have extra blank mini books and things I plan to alter in them. In the matching baskets are completed mini-books not currently on display and my Xyron machine refills. Empty 12x12 scrapbooks are in the middle with two snow globes from my collection acting as bookends.

Beneath them are completed scrapbooks, decorative boxes with supply collections, and a basket with foam stamps that's hidden behind a frame with my kitty Mabel in it. The next shelf is filled with drawer units with my stamps and inks, did you notice the little alphabet sets...only a buck at Michaels! These are followed by my hardware organizer filled with embellishments, buttons are on top of that, and then there is a desk organizer with adhesives and more little embellishments like eyelets and brads. The things on this level are strategically placed to be out of reach.

Then comes my paper collection all neatly organized by color and season. This is only half of it, the bulk of my patterned paper are in large expandable files on the floor by my chair, units with yet more assorted embellishments, and a three drawer desk organizer that used to be on my teacher's desk at school. Now it houses my cutting templates, punches, and embossing powder.

The bottom shelf has my magazines on it, all in cardboard files I keep meaning to add decorative paper to so they look cuter. They are divided up by months and special issues topics such as mini albums, travel, baby, etc. There are two large storage baskets on the bottom and they are great because that's where I stuff other things like my plastic jewelery bead organizers filled with floss cards wrapped with my ribbon collection and larger stamp sets.

The big pay off from moving the unit over was getting this fun little sitting area in the other corner. I know it's not that much to look at, as the chair is a hand me down and doesn't exactly fit my design scheme but it was the right price i.e. free from my parents and it is a comfy recliner. Next to it are two more free treasures, a lamp and table from my friend Alicia; given to us when she was moving. I have been needing some where with a light to kick back and embroider and now I have a great little spot. The rest of my patterned paper is organized by color in those large divided file holders on the floor next to them.

This is part one because only half of the room has been reorganized, notice I am NOT showing the computer, crafting table, or extremely disorganized closet stuffed with fabric remnants and plastic totes still not unpacked from our move from NM over a year and a half ago! We're waiting for the large metal shelving units to go on sale before tackling that project!

This post has been added to Making a Happy Home Monday, because cleaning this space up and making room for my seating area certainly makes me one happy girl! It's also a part of 11th Heaven's Homemaker Mondays, for the same reason. Cause if I'm going to be schleping all that stuff around, I want to show it off☺

I am also adding this to Talk to Me Tuesday at the Lazy Organizer, I just found this blog today and can't wait to go check out the other blogger's home. Thank goodness this room at least is presentable! I am looking forward to going back tonight and going through her archives.

It's also my Tackle It Tuesday Post, cause believe me it was a tackle an all day one! I think my arms are still sore.

Resolutions Revisited

Now that we're heading into the third month of the new year, I thought I should look over my 9 for 2009. I'm happy to report that I think I'm doing pretty darn good on most of them, not there yet of course but hey they're resolutions for the whole year!

The one that is most important to me is to exercise consistently and I'm still going in spurts, I was on track for January but then February came along and it got a little sporadic there. However, the last week or so I've had renewed commitment to this lifelong goal AND I'm really enthusiastic once more because I hit my first weight loss goal!!! Yay me, back to prepreggers weight. Now I just need to maintain it, cause I was at this weight after having ER but then put on a few, okay more like TEN more.

I think you all know from the recipe round-up posts that we're doing really well at the trying a new recipe a week and cooking more at home. We've only have one week where I think we ate out more than we should've, but hey those come up every once in a while. And for those of you who were wondering why the heck I post what we had for dinner AND were thinking I so don't care about what you ate...that's the reason why!

Learn basic sewing skills, I am still a work in progress but I HAVE already made more than three projects with my sewing machine so I'd say this one is well on it's way to being a success.

Okay now the bad news, I'm afraid my diet ice tea consumption is still up there along with my diet pop drinking. It just tastes so good, and before I had to start drinking diet drinks I'd never have thought I'd say that! When you're pretty much limited to water and water, you need a break!

Eat better snacks, also still a work in progress although the increased exercise has certainly counter balanced the Doritos intake. But I have been making some progress and have cut way back on mindless snacking and have been trying to eat something healthy like half an apple with some peanut butter at night with my medications. That way my tummy doesn't get as upset by them too.

My five minute journaling is going pretty well between it and my blog I think I've got a good record of our daily life. It's nice to have someplace to record the little things about ER, like that at our last playgroup my clingy little girl didn't sit on my lap for the very first time during circle time. She sat way on the other side of the circle by Miss. Nicole, sniff...sniff...

I've been posting our learning activities, so you all know I've been trying to do that kind of stuff more regularly.

Now the next one is the only one I can say, I've done nothing for...adding toning and stretching exercises, even though my very nice BIL and SIL who are a personal trainer and Pilate's instructor showed me some great ones. I promise to get to work on those right away.

The last one was to reflect on my progress on a monthly basis and to make changes as necessary, and I've been doing that one for sure. Actually I think about them all the time, and a lot of it goes into my blog even though it's not labeled as such. Posting on our cooking endeavors, learning fun, and daily life keeps them all in the forefront of my mind. This has been a great way to keep on track, I think I might actually make all nine this year!