Tutorial Contest Sponsor: Faccia Felice

Betty of Faccia Felice is our next prize sponsor! She makes beautiful and original jewelry. She is giving away this darling Angel necklace.

Betty says, “My shop name is Italian and it means “happy face” and I hope you’ll enjoy my handcrafted fine silver and silver jewelry as much as I make them. Every piece is handcrafted, filed, polished, fired, tumbled and polished with great care. I use fine silver, argentium or sterling silver findings.”

I think my favorite piece is this cherry blossom choker. I love cherry blossoms and I love chokers, so it’s a good combo for me! Make sure and check our her shop!

And don’t forget the other sponsors. Without them, there wouldn’t be a contest. Keep working on your entries! Right now we only have one.

Fun Friday Links

-I can’t knit, but these are yet another reason to learn (via Tilly)

-You really should sign up for this if you have any interest in digital scrapbooking. I took a free class from her earlier this year and she is a fabulous teacher!

-These pumpkin spice bars were amazing. No pics, because we ate it too fast. I added a little less sugar and oil (I think 3/4 c oil and 1 cup sugar?) and they were so yummy and moist.

-Made this chicken…it was good, but I think you definitely need the lemons. I only had lemon juice and added some of that, but I felt the juices were kind of bland. It made an awesome start to this chicken soup, though.

2 Weeks to a Clean House: Pantry

Umm…I’m already behind. I underestimated how long it would take to clean my teeny, tiny dining room. So I still have more to do in the entry way. But thankfully, I had gone through the shoes and coats recently, so I don’t need to do that. Anyway, today I’m going to work on the pantry, otherwise known as shelves in the garage. They are overflowing all over the floor. So todays mission is to get everything to fit in an orderly fashion! That is all I’m going to do. But if you have a real pantry, you could:

-organize
-wipe down shelves
-sweep and mop floor
-clean light fixture
-wash window(s)

I’ll add pictures later. Right now I’m off to clean.

Thankful for 30: Day 12

-Thankful for God’s hand on this little munchkin!

2 Weeks to a Clean House: Entry and Dining Room

I picked these rooms first because in my house they are some of the easiest. So hopefully I can start out ahead. And how timely….Sew Mama Sew is featuring cleaning crafts today. Of course, if you work on them you probably won’t get any cleaning done!

My list (in theory, if not in practice):
-wipe down walls
-vacume out coat closet
-organize shoes
-remove any outgrown shoes/coats/etc
-organize shelf in coat closet
-mop floors
-scrub table and chairs
-clean microwave (mine is in the dining room)
-tidy up cookbooks
-if there is time, I would love to fix our schedule, which is hanging on a dining room wall and looking terrible
-clean light fixtures
-wash doors (and windows, if you have them)

Maybe step one should be get off the computer!

Tutorial Contest Sponsor: Thistledelight Soapworks

Thanks to San of Thistle Delight Soapworks! She is giving away a bar of yummy Holiday Spice soap and a Lemon Meringue lip butter. She let me pick the flavors, but I imagine she might be willing to change it up if you don’t like my picks! It was hard to choose, there are so many delicious sounding scents (I almost said flavors!….they sound good enough to eat, but I suppose that probably wouldn’t be a good idea!).

San describes Thistle Delight Soapworks as, “the home of luxurious handmade soaps and more. They are made with only the finest oils and butters. We love our skin and yours.”

Make sure and check out San’s shop! Soap makes a great stocking stuffer!

Tutorial Contest Sponsor: The Hempsphere

Big thanks to Jessa of The Hempsphere! She is giving away a cute and funky choker! This would be a great gift for a teenager…unless of course, you want to keep it for yourself! The picture is just an example. You can choose different colors if you want!

She says, “My name is Jessa, and I run the Hemsphere. I have always been obsessed with the feeling of creating things, and when I realized that I was beginning to collect bits and pieces of things from all types of different crafts, I knew something had to be done. Thus I started The Hempsphere, a place in the digital world for my creations!”

She has an Aritfire shop, a blog, a Facebook, and a Twitter, so you can keep on all her happenings. Make sure and check out her shop!

And check out our the other sponsors in the sidebar!

See here for all the details on how to enter.

2 Weeks to a Clean House….

I don’t know about you, but I really, really like having a clean house when Thanksgiving rolls around. And lately, I’ve been so busy, the house has come last. So I’m going to attempt to get it back into shape by Thanksgiving. Feel free to join in. I’m planning on posting scary before photos and hopefully much better after pictures. I’m going to pick a room each day (or two for the really bad ones) and work like mad that day. You can work along with me, or pick your own rooms, however works best for you. Really, I’m doing this for me! But it never hurts to have someone to motivate you, right! So join in if you like, post pics, whatever you want, or just comment asking if I’ve been being good and getting stuff done!

My tentative schedule, subject to change for any reason and any whim:

12: Entry and Dining Room

13:  Pantry

14: Laundry & Porch

15: Kitchen

16: Kitchen

17: Living Room

18: Crafts/Sewing Room or Space

18: Crafts/Sewing Room or Space (hope yours is not this bad!)

19: Kid’s Bedroom (mostly the closet…fat chance of the rest staying clean until Thanksgiving!)

19: Master Bedroom

20: Master Bedroom

21: Attic (just enough to get to the Christmas stuff!)

22: I will be gone all day, so cleaning won’t be happening for me!

23: Bathrooms

24: Okay, so it’s not really 2 weeks..but don’t you think us American’s will be busy enough that day!

And just cause you’re not from the USA and don’t celebrate Thanksgiving doesn’t mean you get off easy! I bet some of you have messy houses too. I’ll have lists up each day with ideas of things to clean. Just in case you’re like me and get sidetracked easily. Happy Cleaning!

Thankful for 30: Day 10 & 11

10- the chance to take the boys to visit their great grandpa.

11- the men and women who have sacrificed so greatly for our freedoms! THANK YOU! You are loved and appreciated!

Tutorial Contest Sponsor: JED Bridal & Julie Ellyn Designs

Welcome to Julie of Julie Ellyn Designs and JED Bridal. She is giving a beautiful pair of pearl earings! She also has a blog where she posts about favorite Etsy finds.

Julie Ellyn Designs creates limited edition, handcrafted, semiprecious gemstone jewelry. She says, “ I like to create feminine and dainty gemstone designs for an affordable price using high quality materials. Custom request are always welcome! Visit JEDBridal for freshwater pearl designs for formal occasions”.

During the last trading event on Etsy (so fun, by the way!), I got these gorgeous earings. She was so lovely to work with and I love the earings. Make sure and check out her lovely shop!

And don’t forget the other great sponsors!

See here for all the details on how to enter.