Rerun: The E-bay "It"

This was originally posted on December 9, 2006 ...


Two gifts made tonight ... I am going to be participating in 2 grab bag gift exchanges. I love exchanges but yet they are hard to buy for because you aren't quite sure who exactly is getting your gift so it's hard to personalize it.
I was trying to figure out what to give ... gift certificates seem to be the best idea because most people can find some use for them. I joked with dh that it was too bad they didn't make e-bay ones, and lo and behold, paypal does give gift certificates! So that clinched it - I'm giving "it" for Christmas this year and a 25 dollar gift certificate to help pay for whatever "it" is! =)


Added now -
This might be a great way to add a little flare to a gift certificate you might want to give. It was pretty easy to make as well ... I just got some of the crayola model magic and some wire. I simply shaped the clay (the t with the curve was the hardest part). You can see most of where I used the wire (between the dot of the i and the i, and to put the i and t together). I also used the wire to attach the cross part of the t (although it's hidden). I'm not sure if they would have stayed stuck together without the wire through them, but I had plenty of wire left to do this.

Anyway, although the gift certificate is not handmade, the little it adds a nice personal touch to the certificate. I will say my it was a hit last year and if I hadn't already used it, I would do it again! LOL!

So, if you are looking for a quick, easy gift ... I suggest this one!

2 new reads, a break, and an apology ...

First of all I've finished two more books this week (which in fact does mean that the insomnia is back and although I love reading, I don't frankly, enjoy it enough to feel tired).

Anyway, the finishes are Night by Ellie Wiesel (for Fall Into Reading) and Dogs of Babel by Carolyn Parkhurst (For TBR 2007 challenge).
I recommend them both.

Second, I'm taking another "break." Next week, no internet for me (aside from things over at The Motherhood because, well, that's my job (which I might add it's still weird for me to say I have a job and not mean the kids and I like that LOL!)) So no posts. It's the holiday weekend, and we'll be busy and I need to step away again.

Also, I haven't been reading hardly any blogs lately. I really haven't been commenting. I'm sorry. But after my break, I will be back, reading, commenting, and posting (between all those Christmas presents I need to be making LOL!)

Anyway, with all that said, I hope everyone has a fabulous Thanksgiving!

Books ...

3 finishes for me this week ....

First In the Wilderness: Coming of Age in an Unknown Country by Kim Barnes.
Good book. Glad I read it. Quite interesting. I didn't have a lot of the same experiences as the author, but could relate to some of how she felt at times - and isn't that the lure of coming of age stories - to see how similar they are to our experiences? Anyway, a very interesting book for me to read.

Number 2 - Lucky by Alice Sebold. Tough, tough book to read for me. I had to take numerous breaks in it just because I needed to get away (if only she had the ability to take breaks right? I know but it was tough). Anyway, nuff said about that one for now.

Number 3 (which I just finished and am feeling a bit raw from) My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. I enjoyed the book truly. I HATED the ending. No, really, I just hated it. And because of that I will never forget this book. The book tore at my heart strings - what would I do if I was the mother? What if I were more like the father and my dh had to be like that mother? What if my sister was dying and I could help her? What if I couldn't? What if I were the sick one? None of them had that great of choices really. But, the ending. Yeah, I'll be pissed about that one for a while. And really - isn't that what makes it a good book? A book that makes you feel and think and have emotion? Yeah, so even though the ending was gut-wrenching and made me cry (yes, I cried!) I still think it was a good book and I'm glad I read it.

On a sort of side note, I thought I had read the book before. And I couldn't remember the ending of it and never understood why everyone talked about it, because if I couldn't remember the ending then I thought it must not be that bad. The beginning I remembered very well, and then I hit a page with a bookmark in it and realized at that point, I had merely started the book before and never finished it. Of course now I get why people want to talk about it all the time LOL!

As another side note, all 3 were part of my Fall Into Reading Challenge!

Photos!

I've been working over here on some good Christmas gift ideas. Of course, I have nothing finished yet, but I have lots of things half-way done. (mostly because I need to go buy things to finish everything up LOL!)

First up to show you ...

A table runner I am making. I need to buy the backing to put on this and then quilt and bind it. It turned out pretty well I think, and I might possibly make a second one to give to someone too. I just don't know if I have enough of the all the fabric and I don't have much else in the stash that is holiday-ish. We'll see.





Second, a bag I'm making ... okay, I know it doesn't look that great now, but I think it will be awesome when it is done frankly. I need to get the pieces for the strap and a snap/button for it as well. I am trying to make an adjustable strap, and this will be my first adjustable strap ever. So that will be fun to do. The plain red is the outside, the flower fabric is the inside.



Third, I am making a paper doll set for a little girl I know. Today I printed out most of the dolls (but I ran out of cardstock and really want to make sure it's all on cardstock) but it hit me that I had nothing to put these dolls in for her to store or whatever. So, today I whipped up what I am calling paper pockets (because I don't know what else to call them LOL!). Then after I purchase a binder, I will cover it in fabric that has embroidered on it "My Paper Dolls" (well, I'll probably put her name on it truthfully) and then I'll stick these in with the dolls in them for her. The whole time I was working on this my 8 year old just kept saying over and over how lucky this other girl is and wow, what a great present - little does she know, she's getting a set as well! And now I know how much she wants them! But today, I just made 4 of them for the other girl. They were around and although the idea won't be a surprise, I want to surprise her with the pages inside - if that makes any sense at all.
And FTR: I am NOT looking forward to cutting all the doll and doll clothes out frankly. But sometime I'll plop down in front of mindless TV and cut them out.



I'm currently trying to get as far as I can on all the projects I have lined up so that I can have a comprehensive list when I go shopping instead of going 20 times between now and Christmas. Also, we are now going to St. Louis Thanksgiving weekend which will give me about 12 hours in the car so I can get a lot of the handwork done and/or knitting done in the car.

Tomorrow will be a day full of running around and not getting anything done at home and this weekend we are gone Saturday and Sunday. But I need to get more work done on these gifts. I'm feeling better about it all though - I have some good ideas and good energy flowing and I just might be able to pull it all off! =)

Today ...

Today I got a haircut. A much needed haircut. Not quite all the hair I wanted taken off (I really only truly got a trim with a few layers built in).
But truthfully, my hair has looked more like a mop on my head than anything else. And I've felt pretty not pretty lately. I put on a few pounds over October and with this blob of hair on my head that looked about 5 inches too long, I NEEDED this haircut people.
And my stylist (whom I found this spring) did wonders again. She trimmed about a 1/2 inch, put in some layers, and I will tell you I bounced out of there feeling pretty again. Of course I also had to go get an outfit for big party this weekend. Okay, I didn't have to. But I wanted to, and we budgeted for it, so I went shopping. Of course, to target where I got a great skirt (on sale 10 bucks I'm pretty proud), nice shirt and cute shoes. Yeah, I'm happy right now.
Really, the haircut did it for me. The haircut really, truly did it for me.
I was also talking to them about hopefully being back in February for the big chop for me and my girls (we are growing out our hair for Locks of Love and I'm currently at 10 inches, one dd is at 9 inches and the other is about 9.5 inches and yes I am anxious to cut it off and I do measure every week just in case we all have huge growth spurts ROFL!) Anyway, the ladies there are all impressed with my oldest daughter for having this idea (because it was truly her idea after she heard it mentioned on the news). They told me to call when we are all ready for our cuts and they will see what they can do for us - I'm hoping buy 2 cuts get one free maybe ROFL! She also asked if I had her permission to alert local media about it to run a piece in a local paper to spotlight my daughter (and I'm not dumb, they'll put their salon name there too and I'm okay with that). We'll see what happens. I think it would be great to have to put in my children's baby books someday, but if that doesn't happen, I don't care because that's not why we are doing it.

Anyway, it was a great day overall. Hopefully tomorrow some book reviews and some photos to show you. Also, I have a great Christmas idea growing in my head. I just need to order the correct things and I can NOT wait to get those here and to show them all. Also, dh got a new print cartridge for us and so I can start printing up all the paper dolls I need so I can start cutting them out (okay, I am not looking forward to that part) and I am going to try to rig some binders up to make them paper doll piece holders, but I'm not sure if the ideas in my mind will come to fruition.

Anyway, I'm bursting with ideas and lots of energy and some good positive vibes. Now I just have to get working on it all! =)

(Wanted to add: these are the people I am waiting for and I hope to make them look something like this after they get here.

Much needed break ...

So, I took a little break from the computer recently, and it was much needed. I might even mostly stay away for the rest of the week.
Sometimes I get too involved in the computer and other things begin to slide. Also, I just needed a break period. Because we came off of a busy month and it was nice to just kind of veg for a few days and not worry about the e-mail or the messages or what's going on this website and all that jazz. I admit, I was on a bit - but really just minimal. And you know what, I didn't even miss the computer that much. I hung out with the family, I vegged, I played games, I did some crafting, I went to the mall (but didn't actually buy anything LOL).
Yeah, it was nice. I needed that time. It's kind of like Computer detox.

I will try to post some pictures of what I've done soon to share with you.

I do have a bit of good news to share with you ... we sent in the check to pay off our second mortgage. Boy, does that feel SOOOO good. Now, we just have the one credit card to pay off. (of course, using current estimates, that will be done in a mere 41 months - and might even be a bit longer because between May 2008-February 2009 we will have 2 out of town weddings (requiring overnight stay), one wedding without overnight stay but with my both girls being a flowergirl, one trip to Maine, Christmas and probably one trip to St. Louis). But no, I can't let it take longer because I truly want it gone much, much sooner. I am going to be cutting costs as much as I possibly can around here to free up as much money as I can to throw towards this debt we have. I WANT IT GONE! I have even offered to get a weekend job for the next 12 months to help get money towards debt and help save for all the other expenses that will occur. We'll see. My husband isn't a fan of that plan in any way, shape, or form! We'll work it out though. I know we will.

Anyway, off to do other things for now ... I'll be back again .. just not sure when! =)

Lazy

I have been feeling quite lazy this week so far. I have done the bare minimum to get through each day truthfully. October was just so crazy and last week was even crazier around here and I think I just decided I needed time to do nothing.
Of course now tomorrow I will need to be doing things all day long to get this house back into shape! We need laundry. The floors need to swept. The carpet longs to be vacuumed. The kitchen wishes to be scrubbed. Things need to be made. Lists need to be written. Work needs to be done.
But I will be honest, my motivation level, is frankly at zero right now. It's so hard to do something when you have absolutely no motivation. It's gone. It disappeared, but I am hoping that it decides to come back tomorrow so that I can get LOTS done.

When the motivation returns, I will be back here. I have lots to "talk" about and lots of things that I need to be working on making!

Overwhelmed ...

I just might have to go and buy some lottery tickets ... apparently I am VERY lucky.
Over the weekend I was informed that I was the winner of:
Lots of great Scrapbooking goodies From A Bright Future
A copy of The Tightwad Gazette from Sense to Save (which by the way is an awesome blog and I'm a new reader after finding it through the Fall Y'all Giveaway! I might also add that I've been hoping to by this book for a few months now and I am beyond thrilled to win!)
A sling from MomLady (which is cool because a week or so ago I mentioned I would be looking for a new one! Yeah!)

I ALSO won:
A Mom-me blanket from Mommy Hobby
and last but not least 8 gyniphr-n-stefuni flower pens in flower pot from Gyniphr-n-Stefuni

I am beyond overwhelmed and feel so incredibly lucky. That said, I can not in good conscience take 5 gifts! I just can't do it - even though they are all absolutely lovely and I would use and love all of them. So, and let me tell you, it is hard for me to do this. I debated with my husband about this (he, was of the opinion that I keep them all ROFL!) but I have decided to pass on the Mom-me blanket and the pens. Because, it just feels wrong to take 5 prizes frankly. I am so grateful to have been chosen (and seriously I'm feeling lucky LOL!). And rest assured, I am not passing because I wouldn't love the item (because frankly, I only signed up for the giveaways that I really did want to win!). But as I said, I want to spread the luck around to a few other souls! =) So I will pass and ask Jennifer and Tricia to pick someone else! =)
But I thank EVERYONE who played, who gave, who had fun during the last week =)

Winners!

FINALLY! LOL!
I'm so sorry about the delay, but let's face it, family does in fact come first (and gramps is already doing better and it was nice to spend the time with grannie and grandpa today!)

Anyway, on to the BIG news
The winners are as follows:

For the knit market bag:
Christine of Good Company

For the books:
Someone Being Me of Someone Being Me

For the child's apron:
Crunchy Domestic Goddess of Crunchy Domestic Goddess

For the knit booties:
Anne of Adventures in Beanland

For the crayon holder:
Ribbon Rock Star of Ribbon Rock Star


Congratulations to all my winners! Thank you everyone for playing.

I want to extend 10% off any order anyone places from reading this because, well, because I want to! LOL! If you'd like anything custom-made, please e-mail and we can talk fabrics and other items.
Because my store inventory is so low, and I only slowly add things, I am going to extend this until November 20! When you place your order, send me a conversation reminding me of this discount and do NOT pay until I can send you a revised invoice to reflect the price change! =)

Have a great day everyone!

Prayer Request

Hey everyone ... I'm sure you are anxious who the winners are ... I will be picking them late tonight (hopefully).
Unfortunately, dh's grandfather is in the hospital - he had a minor heart attack. They are also scanning his kidney for something. We've known for a few months he has a lump on his prostate, but he hasn't followed up on it (he had a few appointments, but has been quite sick and ends up cancelling them because of that).
Anyway, today, we off to visit with granny for a bit. Then we will take granny and head to visit grandpa, then back to granny's to have some dinner. Granny admitted that she was feeling very lonely with grandpa not there and asked us to please come over.
So that is what I am doing today ... and if you could please shoot some prayers over this way ... I would really appreciate it.
Thanks all!

Showing my love ...

I constantly tell my husband how much I love him, but the truth is I don't *show* him it very often. The truth is, sometimes I'm a pretty cruddy wife. It seems that too much of the time, dh gets put last - behind the kids, the house, the work, the so many other things that I "have to" do. And I do feel badly about it, but yet it's hard to not do all of that.
But this week, this week, I showed my dh just how much I love him (and no, it did involve lingerie or anything of the like!)
This week I first cleaned out the garage. My husband has not been able to park in the garage yet since we moved in here. And the weather is getting cold. And one of our goals was to reorganize the garage to fit his car in there. It was on his already too long list for the weekend. And so between Wednesday and Thursday, I reorganized the garage and he should be able to fit in there now. (we haven't tried it out yet). Then today, I cleaned the bathrooms. All the bathrooms in our house. Now, this may not seem like a big deal to most, but out of 8 years of marriage, this is maybe the third or fourth time I have cleaned a bathroom. I don't do bathrooms. I told him up front. He knew that marrying me. And so he has always cleaned the bathrooms (yes, ladies I am SO very lucky that he does this and I totally know it). So today I wiped, scrubbed and cleaned. Just for him. Because he will already try to do too many things this weekend. Because he works so hard for our family. And because I wanted to show him just how much I loved him.
Upon hearing I cleaned the bathrooms, I am pretty sure my husband thought I might have been an impostor and wondered for a few moments where his real wife went. But alas, he is quite thankful to come home to a clean garage and clean bathrooms. And I have in fact, shown him very clearly, just how much I do love him!

Last giveaway ..

UPDATE: COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED, PLEASE CHECK BACK TOMORROW FOR THE WINNER!

Well today is the last and final giveaway for the Fall Y'all Carnival going on. I will be sad to see the week end, although, truly my fingers are starting to get sore from all the typing I've done (yes, rest assured I have entered a LOT of contests on my own! LOL)
Thank you to all who have visited me this week. I do hope that you will continue to return even without me bribing you the carnival pulling you here!

And now, onto the final giveaway. The winner for today will get their choice of one of two crayon holders I have made:

OR
(there are more photos here of each one so go look if you would like to!)

I will tell you, I made one earlier this year and it has come in handy. First of all, it looks a lot prettier than a box of crayons. It's not too many but not too few for all three of my kiddos. It hasn't opened/ripped/crushed and spilled crayons out into the bottom of the purse/diaper bag. We have used it: in the car, in restaurants, while visiting other people's houses. Right now, we only have one ourselves. I will be making a few more (so I can permanently keep one in the diaper bag and my purse). I will also be giving a few of these as Christmas presents. And whichever one is not chosen by the lucky winner, will end up in my Etsy store!

Now don't forget to also:
sign up for my first giveaway
sign up for my second giveaway
sign up for my third giveaway
sign up for my fouth giveaway
visit etsymom for the fabulous giveaways there as well

And go back to the Fall Y'all headquarters and sign up for LOTS of freebies (last I saw, almost 500 giveaways to take part in!)

Other notes:
I'm sorry, but I'm only shipping to the US or to an APO address. I know, it means I'm leaving out a bunch of nice people but the cost of shipping and all that jazz!

Also, a shameless self-promo here, please go and visit my etsy store Emmagail Creations. I'm hard at work over here making some lovely aprons to list over there. So feel free to go over there and browse around =)

UFO and MORE giveaways!

UPDATE: COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED, PLEASE CHECK BACK TOMORROW FOR THE WINNER!

I haven't shared yet, but I did actually manage to finish something up for the UFO Challenge! When the month began, I had one, little lonely knitted bootie

Publish Post

This poor little guy, has been friendless for quite some time. I'm pretty sure it was made a few years ago. So I pulled out the yarn and some needles and knitted up another one!

Yeah for a pair of booties! =)
And I love these booties so much. For quite a few years all pregnant moms I knew received a pair of these booties. And now, well, I don't know anyone who is expecting, so guess what?
You can have this pair of baby booties! It's simple =) Just leave me a comment by Saturday, November 3 and they could very well end up in your home! If you aren't going to have a baby anytime soon, I promise they make a fabulous gift.

Now don't forget to also:
sign up for my first giveaway
sign up for my second giveaway
sign up for my third giveaway
visit etsymom for the fabulous giveaways there as well

And go back to the Fall Y'all headquarters and sign up for LOTS of freebies (last I saw, almost 500 giveaways to take part in!)

Other notes:
I'm sorry, but I'm only shipping to the US or to an APO address. I know, it means I'm leaving out a bunch of nice people but the cost of shipping and all that jazz!

Also, a shameless self-promo here, please go and visit my etsy store Emmagail Creations. I'm hard at work over here making some lovely aprons to list over there. So feel free to go over there and browse around =)