ooooohhhh pretty....

Wanna know how to make these???....ok I'll tell you...

first go to walmart looking for the Star Wars Millenium Falcon Transformer (MFT)...the one where Han Solo and Chewbacca snap together to make, yep you got it the Millenium Falcon...You will not find it however, because apparently it is this years sleeper "tickle me Elmo". Everyone you ask will say "I just saw one at ......" and I go there, but they are gone....ok off subject...anyway...since you are there at walmart, you'll of course pick up about $100 worth of "stuff" that you need because it's there...kind of like when you go to target...and inspiration will find you between the vases and the silk flowers....so gather some styrofoam balls, I used 2 1/2 inch, some pretty ribbon, some clear pebbles (the kind you put in the bottom of a vase) and your (low temp) glue gun.....because the "Amy Factor" always means an accident is just around the corner.

I'm all about 5 ingredients or less, in cooking, crafting and pretty much all aspects of life...anything that requires more than 5 steps just gets too complicated and makes my brain too noisy.

Using your glue gun cover the styrofoam ball with the pebbles...

As my models, Britain 12, and Landon 9 are showing you it is really quite easy. I'm am so loving the time that I'm getting with my boys while we make stuff, they've never really been interested in it before. Tie a ribbon around it, secure with glue and then I tied another one and secured to hang it from the tree. These do end up kind of heavy. They catch the light beautifully though.

I also have a layout for Christy's prompt #15

I haven't been around as often as I'd like. I, like everyone else I think, am a little overwhelmed right now with the holidays, work, kids, husband...I am off tomorrow though and I hope I'll get some more stuff done. That is between running my husbands errands, laundry,usual boring house stuff.

I snapped this picture of Cocoa today when I got off work.

oh and ps..I gave in and got the Star Wars MFT from ebay, now I just have to hope it gets here in time.

Warning

If you have to get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, and you have a puppy, remember to turn on the light, do not take the path barefoot because you are sure to step in it and therefore a stream of expletives is sure to leave your mouth, and you are sure to wake up your husband, who is sure to laugh his ass off at you....




But stepping in dog poop is not the only mess I made today...oh no....my husband and boys have a saying around here...whenever someone does something "the hard way", or "the weird way", or "the other way", therefore setting off a chain of events causing the universe to work against you in all aspects of your life, they (Rob and the boys) say "You Amed It!" . The word "Amed" of course referring to the name Amy, which in case you didn't know is me. Let me say that this phrase is most often used by them to me....




Past "Amed It" occurrences include, but are not limited to, the following:




1. Closing the Garage Door on my 6 month old Car.



2. Having to file a police report because Rob was TDY and the Cable Company sent out a Stalker(really I'm not kidding)



3. Burning everything I cook (this was before I got my new oven possessed by Mary Poppins)



4. Setting fire to the stovetop when I was boiling water because I forgot I was boiling water in
the first place and left a dishtowel too close to the burner which prompted Rob to buy the flat
top stove/oven possessed by Mary Poppins.



5. Getting Hair Color all over the newly painted bathroom...no, that stuff does not come off the walls, or the carpet, or the sink.



6. Accidentally hitting the barricade going out the gate to the Base when we lived in Florida, subsequently ripping off the passenger side view mirror, the morning we were leaving for Disney World



7. Falling down two flights of concrete stairs outside a nursing home (I was seeing a patient)
in 20 degree weather and having to crawl back up said stairs, crying, bleeding and
laughing (what else is there?) to be sat in a Geriatric Chair while I waited for Rob to come
take me to the hospital....I sprained my right ankle and twisted my left knee....



8. Using Nair to remove my eyebrow hair because I didn't have time to go get them waxed (I figured "why not?")the night before a Dressy Air Force Banquet I had to go to...ok DO NOT DO THIS...this resulted in red blisters as long as my eyebrows just below my eyebrows...think what it would look like if you tried to take a curling iron to your eyelids



9. Leaving to drop the kids off and go to work, only to come back to the house 3 times because I forgot to 1. turn off the oven, 2. grab my lunch, and 3. lock the door....(it's embarrassing how often this happens, so much so that Britain is almost OCD about checking everything before we
leave, so convinced is my 12 year old that the house will not be here by the time school is out)



10.....really do you need any more examples....??




ok so now you know...this is why when I woke up and stepped in the doodie I knew I was in for an "Amed" it kind of day...I mean really I don't ask for these things to happen...trouble just finds me....




so like a good girl I avoided scissors, the oven, my flat iron and all other basic deadly appliances for most of the day...



I finished reading this book here



If you can't read the title it's Size 12 is Not Fat...This book is so fun, and funny so you should go read it, it's a really easy, quick read....

and on the subject of books, I found this really cool site
http://www.paperbackswap.com/


You join for free and post your books you've already read, (they don't have to be paperbacks)...ok so then when you post your first ten books to swap they give you 2 credits.. 1 credit=1 book...you pay the postage to send your books to whoever "orders" them and when you order a book from someone else they pay the postage to you..you can print the postage and the wrapper to mail your books right from their site!!....it's like going to the library but you don't have to leave your house...then you just relist the books you get from someone else and so on...I love free stuff (or almost free)....




so remember I said I was a good girl for most of the day...well of course because I spent most of the day on my couch reading and doing laundry (so far I don't count the washer/dryer as deadly appliances, but that doesn't mean they won't get added to the list) I got a false sense of security...so when I pick up the boys from school I go to Dairy Queen for dinner...(no way was I going anywhere near the oven on an "Amed" it day) but I should have known I don't have to go near the oven...Landon ordered a kids meal, which came with a vanilla ice cream cone...as the lady handed it to me through the window and I attempted to pass it off to Landon, (I mean really is a 6 inch pile of ice cream necessary for a nine year old??) the ice cream fell off and landed on my lap but not before bouncing over from the center console...on my new faux suede coat from Avon....(yes I bought my coat from Avon and yes it's faux suede, I hate shopping for clothes)




Then I come home, and do some blog hopping well I can't resist Lain and her challenges, although I can't imagine what made me think I was safe...

so here's some pictures of Lain's challenge to create something that's is home decor it started out so innocently...







I recycled an old coffee can, painted it then stenciled on some stars and painted the words "Christmas Cheer", you can't see it here for some reason, but I punched holes in the sides with a hammer and nail and added ribbon for a handle. I think I'm going to use it to hold cookies. (I know right now you're thinking I was brave to use a hammer and nail on an "Amed" it day)



So feeling confident and drinking my Starbucks Frappacino...I did not get Dairy Queen btw, I was playing with the lid and inspiration struck,



"self , why not alter the lid with something cute?" "ok" so I find the perfect chipboard circle to fit on the inside of the lid and get out my Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive...I open it up and squeeze it, hmmm, it's full why isn't it coming out? so I squeeze harder...and OMIGOD....I AM ATTACKED BY GLUE!!!!!! you can not imagine the velocity of this stuff!! Here's a visual aid to help you... now this mere picture does not in any way give you an idea of the magnitude of the ATTACK OF THE FLYING GLUE...but after I took one picture I realized I got it on my camera, it's still in my hair, on the phone, the wall, the lamp, the dogs, and Landon...I'm still not sure if I'll be able to get my clothes off or if I'll have to cut my hair and for all I know the dogs are probably stuck to each other ....and I think I might be getting just a little bit high from the smell...I was not deterred though, I rinsed everything off and altered my frappacino lid...here's a picture



aww isn't that cute..."make a difference"...now I'm going to have to make one that says "I Amed It"....


This for some reason put me in the mood to hammer holes in something...so I thought "self let's make a ribbon holder"...so I took this big plastic jar that I got at WM for like 94 cents




and I hammered holes around the perimeter, about halfway through I figured out it was much easier to just poke it with scissors, but somehow the hammer is more satisfying.... and I ended up with this..... yes I know the ribbon is only sticking out of the bottom...I should have put the holes everywhere...and I completely misjudged the amount of ribbon I had....but on the whole I think it was a good idea...thankfully the plastic jar was only 94 cents so I can start over....but not tonight...I am sooooo done......


I know I need to get some layouts done, but I'm afraid I'll cut my fingers off with my fiskars trimmer....

and because I refuse to have my blog end on anything but a happy note...look at our first snow of the season....no way am I going anywhere until it melts....

10,000 Care Packages for our Servicemembers...

I am floating on air right now...I am exhausted...but it is a completely happy amazingly elated feeling...I am in awe of what we, as volunteers for the USO, accomplished today. The USO is such an incredible organization, I just can not sing their praises enough. There were 137 of us, from all walks of life, some military (or affiliated) some just wanting to donate their time and we managed to stuff, box and pallatte 10,300 care packages and we did it in under 3 hours...here are a few pictures

First we stuffed the bags with postcards from Jack Daniels that people from all over the country had written messages on to the troops, when that was done they set us up assembly line style to put the "product" in the bags, product included toiletries, phone cards, granola bars etc. I was a bag zipper...:-). I would have pictures of the assembly line but we were working so hard I couldn't stop to take a picture! Every so many thousand packages, we would stop and do the conga...everyone..it wasn't an option...IT WAS SO FUN!!!

Can I just say that everyone whether you drink alcohol or not, should show some support to Jack Daniels, an american company, who although they can not sell/send their products to the troops overseas, are just out there to support the troops here...they have donated over $300,000 to events like these with the USO....
and this man right here

that would be Craig Morgan in the middle....wow...he actually helped the volunteers this morning set up for the packaging party, and then came out and worked on the assembly lines with us. He's just such a nice guy!! I have always been a fan of country music, and a fan of Craig's but now let me tell you I am going to promote him anywhere I can. Go buy his CD's, request his songs on country radio, whatever just do it. Here's someone who could have been with his family but took time out of his busy schedule to come spend time with us at Scott AFB and he was so sincere about it. This was not event that was advertised outside of the base. He did it just for us!!! He kept thanking US ...and he himself is former Special Forces with the Army. The concert was awesome and Craig and his band did this for us for FREE!!!!!

here are some more pictures

The USO survives because of it's volunteers, who better to give your time to than for those who lay their lives on the line everyday for us. Volunteer by clicking here.

Supporting artists who support our troops is what keeps the USO holding events like todays. You can go buy Craig Morgan's CD's by clicking here.

Jack Daniels can be found just about anywhere but they have a cool website too here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas Crafternoons!!!!

This is going to be long...

Yesterday we had our first ever "Castellano Christmas Crafternoon" I decided to take on the trees from Ali Edwards site with a twist, we used felt cut into small squares and created "mosaic trees" and since there are 4 of us we each made one....I also used a styrofoam block for a base so all four trees could be together and covered it also. Now let me say, it was very hard for me to not try to take over when Landon chose camoflauge felt for his tree and Britain wanted a Star Wars tree, I have this problem of wanting things to match and look the way I want them to...but I was a good mom...and I just let go...and I love everyone's trees and they might be a little messy, but I just love the way they turned out...and we had so much fun!!!...so here's some photos:

and the final product

From Left to right, Rob, me, Britain and Landon some of the felt sparkles but you can't tell in the picture....Landon ended up adding red and green with the camo, Dad's tree is totally camo LOL

then we finished our "itty bitty buckets" for the boys teachers...here are some more pictures

First I made these bookmarks using jumbo paperclips from walmart, I cut a bird out of felt, well, 2 actually, and using felt glue secured the paper clip in between. Then I stitched yellow emboidery floss around the edges. Next I cut 2 little wings out of white felt and glued them on, added google eyes on each side and presto. To make the card I used a scrap of Bazzil Bling in Silver cut a slit and put the bookmark on it. I used thickers to spell "read". This entire project took about 15 minutes or so. Next I made chapstick holders, again using a scrap of pattered paper, scored and folded, chapstick held in place by glue dots, and tied in place with a ribbon.

I also added the calendars we made a few days ago, see the earlier post. To top it off I added hershey kisses to a cellophane bag and printed out a "Happy Holidays" card stapled to the top.

The finished product looks like this....

The buckets were 94 cents at walmart and I printed out a card with a vintage santa picture and a cute Christmas quote, inked the edges and xyroned it for a label....easy peasy...!!

ok and I did a few layouts

first the 30 minute thursday layout from Lain's, the challenge was to use all one product line. I used My Mind's eye.

and Creative Prompt #11 from Christi

I did another one that I submitted to Simple Scrapbooks Call, so keep your fingers crossed for me...

I got some Christmas presents made to, I didn't take pictures of all of them a minialbum for my father in law, a wall hanging for my mil and this for my nephew

This is the allison frame by Creative Imaginations Bare Elements and all I did was use the kit that comes separately, and with the leftovers was able to make the minialbum and the wall hanging. I still have left overs too, so those are pretty great kits!!

That's it for projects...

Rob took Britain for some Dad time to go see Beowolf so Landon and I are watching "The Santa Clause" right now...the first one

so how about a Holiday Movie Review!!

Landon gives it 2 candy canes out of 5...he says "it doesn't really make sense"

I think he's kind of mad right now because his Dad and brother aren't here...:-)

I give it 4 candy canes for humor, sentiment and of course a wonderfully sappy Christmasy ending!!!

you can watch a scene from the movie here

and here are some pics of the family from our nice weekend together hanging out and watching movies...

Even though they're getting older, I never get tired of watching them sleep.

Have a great night !

fun little projects...

I have a fun little project for you today...


First go to the $1 section at your target and get one of these cute little calendars...







You might as well stop by electronics, the scrapbooking section, the grocery aisle, toy department and housewares since you're already there and spend $100 even though you went there to get one item for $1.00... at least that's what I did...


next gather some scraps...

I used my leftovers from a layout I did
last night since they were still on my table,
I used a "only use it if it's in plain sight" rule...

trim paper to match the cover
and embellish as desired ...





and Voila your 2008 purse calendar....




I made this one for me, but I'm going to have the boys make them for their teachers itty bitty buckets for Christmas...more on the buckets later since they aren't done yet...This project took about 10 minutes
this would make a great homemade gift for anyone and the the great thing is you can do it with stuff you already have










and here's what I did with the "teeny weeny album" from 7gypsies...



this will be my Dad's Christmas present...everyone..except for the boys are getting handmade presents this year and believe me if I could figure out how to make my own Xbox 360 or Darth Vader/Death Star Transformer, I would....




and here is my layout for Lain's 30-minute Thursday challenge...
the challenge was to do a layout using numbers...these are the lyrics from the begginning of Seasons of Love, from Rent...I have always wanted to used these lyrics in a layout...




Again, I used a bunch of scraps here, and I didn't sew, even though it looks like I did, these are pre sewn mats from Chatterbox...

I work for the next 3 days, so I don't know if I'll be here tomorrow, but Wed is a short day so I hope to be here then...until then everybody have a great night!!