To sum it all up...

Holy Moses it's been a crazy week. I have been insanely busy and it's not going to let up anytime soon I'm sure.

Here's a recap of how my life has been recently:
* While my Etsy sales are down compared to this time last month, I still am working on something Etsy related every day. The Post Office staff know me by name.
* The kids had a 5 day weekend and the hubby came home from training over the holiday for a 4 day weekend. We also had a couple of guys from his training class come up for Thanksgiving since they weren't going to be going home to their families.
* I spent Wednesday night and all day Thursday cooking.
* Thursday was spent watching football (darn Lions lost again!) and eating.
* Friday was spent recovering from Thursday. We did some shopping but nothing exciting for Black Friday. 'Cuz this momma is D-O-N-E done shopping for her babies!
* Saturday we did more errand running and then went to our dear friends' home for some super tasty food and more football. I love me a Southern oyster roast and college football rivalries!
* Sunday we once again recovered from the food consumed on Saturday.

So far this week I have busted my hump working on Etsy orders that I didn't even look at over the weekend. And today I need to run a couple errands (Post Office, I will see you soon!), finish a blanket, and clean my house. Because tomorrow morning before the buttcrack of early, I will pile my sister and kids in the car and drive 2.5 hours to see my man graduate FLETC. Then his parents & niece will be making the trip up to our house to spend some time with us before we move. The remainder of my week will be spent sewing and entertaining, and hopefully getting some answers on when we can start scheduling movers to come. We hit the long road to Oklahoma City in just three weeks!

So I will do my darndest to keep up with this here blog, but I apologize in advance if I cannot! My life is just a big 'ol barrel of busyness right now.

God Bless the USA

"This nation will remain free only so long as it is the home of the brave." ~Elmer Davis

Enjoy your 4th of July festivities today, but don't forget all of the men & women who have given their lives to ensure that you get the chance to celebrate every year. God Bless our Troops and the wonderful land they fight for!

Christmas Finds on Etsy: Ornaments

I love everything about Christmas...decorations, lights, ornaments...you name it. Every Friday from now until Christmas I'm going to show you my favorite holiday items on Etsy. There will be a different theme each week, so make sure you check back!

First up- Ornaments!

These crochet snowflakes from Stylish Ornaments remind me of my grandma. I wish I would've learned how to do this beautiful craft.

How adorable are these snowmen by Snowman Central?? I especially love the blue & green ones...I love the simplicity and elegance of this ornament, from The Deep Six. I have to include just one from my own shop, Jen's Craft Corner. This Gingerbread Starfish is one of my favorites ever. I have one on my own tree and get lots of compliments. Check out the cousin ornament which is a best-seller for me a craft shows and in my shop- the Santa Starfish.

Mmmm Mmmm Monday: Easy Oreo Truffles

Hooray for the holidays! I am going to post my all-time favorite holiday recipes every week in December.

Yes, I know that it's not December until tomorrow, but I am too impatient. Plus, Mmmm Mmmm Tuesday just doesn't flow. So if you are a November purist, don't read this post until tomorrow.

First up is a recipe that I stumbled on in Walmart last year. You know, those recipe sheets that they have in little clear holders on the side of their holiday baking displays? Yep...it's one of them. I actually grabbed the sheet for the other recipe on the page, but made this one instead. And let me tell you what...it was a HUGE hit! My hubby & my kids are always my taste testers, and I got RAVE reviews. They almost ate the entire batch before my parents, sisters and grandma could get here for Christmas and try them. They were that good.

Anyway, here you go!
Easy Oreo Truffles
1 package Oreo cookies, finely crushed, divided
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
2 packages (8 squares each) Baker's semi-sweet chocolate, melted

Mix 3 cups of cookie crumbes and cream cheese until well blended. Shape into 1 inch balls. I found that a regular size cookie dough scoop is perfect for these!

Dip balls into melted chocolate. Place on wax paper covered baking sheet. Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs. (We used red & green sprinkles for Christmas).

Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm. Store any leftover (haha, yeah right. Leftovers. That's funny.) in tightly covered container in fridge.

*I will be making some of these babies this week, so check back for pictures!*

In the spirit...

The other day I got caught listening to a Christmas cd while I was crafting.

(In my defense, I was working on holiday items and needed inspiration via music. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.)

But I'm not the only one in my house getting into the Christmas spirit. Last night the kids picked a Christmas movie to watch at bedtime. Then today, Jonah came home from school with a Christmas book from the library.

So HA. It's not just me, folks.

Apparently my whole family is crazy.

Christmas Pics (better late than never!)

Here are a few of my favorite shots from Christmas weekend. My family (mom, dad, 2 sisters, neice and grandma) made the drive up to Charleston from West Palm Beach, FL to spend the holiday with us. It was so fun!
My silly little monkey!


My sister & niece.
My baby sister and my boys.
We love mini-golf!!
Seeeesters!

Handmade Christmas part 1

Since money's tight this year, I have decided to make the majority of the gifts for our family. I have been working on things for Sophia, my neice Gianna, my sisters, and my mother-in-law. And I roped the boys into being crafty this year too. A couple of weeks ago we went shopping at Michaels (by far one of my favorite places!) and bought some ceramic ornaments. The boys each picked out three to paint for their grandparents and their nana. Much to the boys' delight, today was they day they got to don their paintshirts and pull out their paintbrushes and get to work. Noah was not happy I took this becuase he was still in his pj's.

Note the concentration!

The finished products. Their grandparents and nana are going to love them!