Super Bowl Commercials

Hi friends!  How was your Sunday?  Did you happen to catch the little football game that was on TV last night?   Me?  Oh yeah, I was glued to the game.  I'll admit that some years I just watch the Super Bowl for the commercials.  (That sure is a heck of a lot easier than being on pins and needles routing for my team to win...)  But this year, I think I can say that I really enjoyed the game a lot more than the commercials.  It was really anybody's game right up until the very last second, which made it extra exciting.  Even my non-football/basketball/soccer-watching sister-in-law and her husband enjoyed the game. 

But as for the commercials, I thought they were a little disappointing.  Too many half-naked-people ads.  (What IS it that they are selling in those ads anyway???)  I will have to say that I have always been a sucker for the cute ones.  (For example, the e-trade baby in solitary confinement?   Kills me every time I see it!  "Apparently riding the dog like it's a small horse is frowned upon in this establishment!"  LOL)  Give me babies or cute little animals, and I'm a happy camper!  This year was no different for me.  Two of my top 3 favorite commercials feature cute dogs, and the third one stars a really cute toddler. (sorry, Drew Brees)  I can't pick a favorite, so I'm just going to show them all, in random order.

Look at those cute itty bitty shoes!!! 

Sooooooo sweet!

Again, again!!!  :)

So what were YOUR favorites? 

Resolution Update - slow progress

Oh dear!  What have I gotten myself into???  Have I bitten off more than I can chew with this whole fabric organization project?  I guess only time will tell-- but this week has been a little disappointing...  I ordered 2 packs of 100 comic book storage boards (acid free) to wrap my fabric around (a la Kandra's Corner blog tutorial) and as soon as they came in the mail-- I was stealing every spare minute I could to start using them.  (Not too many free moments this week, though.  Lots of custom orders to whip up...)  I had dreamed of working my way through the first package of boards, and joyfully watching my current fabric cubes emptying out as I loaded the adorable little mini fabric bolts onto my shelves.  I do love the new look, and it's so much easier to see each fabric with this new system.  But I think each 100 board pack (only one side of them is acid free, so I use 2 of them back to back to wind the fabric onto) well, it just isn't going to go quite as far as I thought...  I've worked my way through one whole pack of boards.  (That should be 50 mini bolts, right?  Well, either I wasn't careful enough picking up just 2 boards at a time, or there weren't really 100 boards in this package.  Either way, this means trouble for me...  You'll see why in a minute.)  I love love love the look of them all lined up on the shelf!  Here's a peek:

Progress is good, no???

See how I have been cutting some boards in half to use to organize the fabrics that I have less than half a yard of???  This should help me see what fabrics I am running out of, so that I'll have a better idea of what needs to be reordered with just a glance!  Not too shabby, huh?  Almost filled up the top shelf.  That's 41 mini bolts, baby.  Whew!  I'm really making progress now!!!  Let's take a look at the storage cubes I showed you last week so that we can see how far we've come in one week: 

 

What???  You've GOT to be kidding me!!!  I can't have used up one whole pack of comic book boards for just ONE STACK of fabric.  (I only bought 2 packs, remember?)  Not even a whole cube worth of fabric?  How is that possible-- I don't have THAT much fabric.  I must not be remembering what the shelf looked like from last week.  Yeah, that's probably it.   Let's look at that again:

Fancy schmancy Valentine's Day cookies

Courtesy of The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle

I just LOVE Sweet Sugar Belle's cookie blog.  I look at all of her beautifully decorated cookies, and it makes me want to rush out to the kitchen and make a masterpiece myself.  (Reality check:  I decorated cookies with my sister for the first time this past Christmas.  Not that it wasn't fun for the first 6 hours, but those last 6 were killer...  It took me a week to get the feeling back in my fingertips from squeezing the frosting out of those little bottles all day!  I PROMISED myself I would NEVER EVER do that again!!!)  It's worth visiting her site just to drool over her creations, but-- get this-- she even shows you how she makes those awesomely perfect lace designs!!!  I am in awe of her talent.

Swoon!

They are.... perfect!  Just perfect!  If I ever make decorated sugar cookies again, I would want them to look just like this.  And that's a problem, because I really mean that.  Literally.  I drive myself crazy with wanting my cookies to be perfect.  My girls call me the Cookie Nazi.  Seriously.  But, hey-- I'm just a detail oriented person.  And chocolate chip cookies should always be the same size and shape, right?  No?  Too much?? 

I've already pinned a bunch of her cookies on Pinterest for future reference.  Which is just wrong because of my promise to my numb fingers...  I really need to stop visiting  her site, because I can feel my resolve slowly slipping away.  Sigh.  I'm afraid it's only a matter of time...

New Year's Resolution Thursday

OK, I've avoided talking about my New Year's Resolution so far, but since this IS the last week of January-- I figure I should finally fess up.  Accountability, don't you know, is a great motivator.  If I actually put it out there, it might actually shame  motivate me to take some action!

I don't think I've mentioned it yet, but during my recent vacation from my blog-- I've accidentally become somewhat of a Pinterest addict.  I signed up not even knowing what it was, but it didn't take long to figure out that I couldn't live without it!!!  :)  I have so much fun saving photos and ideas that I want to keep for later, and I also get to connect with friends to see what kind of cool things THEY'RE finding out there on the Internet.

It all started couple of months ago when I took an online marketing class.  (Which is the whole reason I even started this blog, you might remember.)  One of the exercises for the class was to start participating in social media marketing:  Facebook (already had a page-- check!), Twitter (sorry, but no thank you.  I just couldn't do it...), Stumble Upon (signed up-- check!), and Pinterest.  I still haven't figured out how using Pinterest works as a marketing tool-- but I have discovered I really don't care because I'm wasting so much time having so much fun there!

One of my favorite pastimes has been collecting photos (pins) of my favorite sewing/crafting/storage ideas.  I just can't believe how many organizationally minded geniuses there are out there!  You are my  heroes, truly.  And I want to be just like you when I grow up!  And so, with all of those spiffy sewing rooms in mind-- I come to my resolution:  I WILL be more organized in 2012.  In my sewing room, at least. 

And my first step towards completing my resolution...  I can't even believe I am doing this, but I am actually going to post the "before" pictures.  (The horror!)   After the frenzy of frantically sewing all those Christmas orders, I usually hibernate during January.   But by the end of January, with tax time looming over me-- I usually finally find the kick in the pants I need to start putting everything back in it's proper place.

My first focus is going to be sorting through my massive fabric stash and getting it in order.  How bad can it be, you ask?  Well, let me just show you:

Well, that's not so bad, you might be thinking.  But I just straightened this area up a couple of weeks ago.  So it's not "organized", but at least it's fairly tidy.  These are the fabrics I use most-- for my purses and aprons.  They have remained this tidy only because I haven't started "creating" again yet.  Since the new year has begun, I've only been filling orders.  I haven't added anything new to my shop.  Creating = messy (for me at least.)  That's where my resolution comes in!  I'm trying to turn over a new leaf.  This is why:

Yeah.  Um.  These are larger pieces, and bolts of fabric pretty much just smashed together.  Not pretty.  But it's just 2 very messy shelves that need some TLC, right.  However, I think you can see why organization needs to be a priority this year.  Still not that bad, you say?  Well, I hate to tell you but you ain't seen nothin' yet...

This is just ONE SIDE of my really very nice and spacious closet that my wonderful DH built just for my fabric.  (Actually, I think he thought we'd use it for OTHER storage, too-- but little did he know how fast it would fill up!!)  How embarrassing is THAT???  Oh my! Somehow I've got to whip this place into shape.  I can't wait any longer!!!  Inspired by this blog and this tutorial, I've ordered some supplies to get started on project fabric organization!!!

From now until I've finished (or until this project kills me-- whichever comes first) I'll try to post Resolution Updates on Thursdays to share my work in progress.  Here's my inspiration from Pinterest:

I've got a lot to do before next Thursday!  :)  I'm excited and scared at the same time!!!  Now if I can just stay OFF of Pinterest, I may just have time to make a dent in this project this week.  Wish me luck!  And, if you happen to have some time on your hands-- check out Pinterest!  You can even follow me there, if you dare.  http://pinterest.com/lauriesgifts/

Have a great week!
Laurie

Two ingredient strawberry fudge

 

Valentine's Day fudge???  Yes, please!!!  I've never heard of such a thing before, but I think I'm in love!  Wanna see the recipe for yourself?  Head on over to Cookies & Cups to see this intriguing recipe. 

Treasury Tuesday- Wood you like to be more organized?

I've got organization on the brain...  Just thought I'd get that off my chest.  I will be sharing more about my new obsession later this week, but for now I'm just going to be sharing a treasury I just made today with this topic in mind.  I tell you what-- it really makes me wish I was one of those dedicated shoppers who haunts second hand stores/garage sales/antique shops and always finds that diamond in the rough that they turn into a fabulously cool storage container.  Yeah, that's so not me.  I don't think I have the patience for it.  Usually when I'm shopping, I've got my blinders on-- I come with my list and if it's not on the list-- I won't be coming home with it.  (Actually, lately, even if it's on the list-- I may not be coming home with it...  Have I ever mentioned how easily distracted............Hey!  Look the sun is shining!  Wait a minute, when did I spill that on my shirt?  What was I saying???)

Oh yeah, Treasury Tuesday!  Since I'm no good at finding those cool vintage cubbies and such on my own, I decided to see what Etsy had to offer.  Quite a bit, as it turns out.  Here's a peek at some of my favorites.

'Wood you like to be more organized?' by LauriesGiftsBiz

Cubby Shelf Painted... EliWoodworks $170.00	Wooden Jewelry Orga... bluebirdheaven $108.00	Jewelry Box With Dr... ErinsArtwork $49.99	Handmade Wooden Mak... addressthemess $25.00
sewing machine draw... NayaStudio $28.00	Desk Organizer - Fa... LoveButlerVint... $18.00	Vintage Desk Organi... VintagePennyLa... $17.00	Vintage / Antique W... Seases $160.00
Vintage Drawer Ches... bluebonnetfiel... $56.00	Jewelry Box Mens Wo... AppelJar $38.50	Jewelry Holder Stan... lestudio2 $19.95	Large Painted Ribbo... RyliesCrafts $49.00
Vintage Cubby Cupbo... bluebonnetfiel... $125.00	Vintage Library Car... thehouseofoliv... $215.00	Earring Organizer w... BlackForestCot... $66.00	Mail Holder - Key H... LegacyStudio $24.95

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Treasury Tuesday: Dead of Winter

Boy, has it been a while since I posted or what?!  I apologize for my absence.  There was a long period of absolute sewing chaos, followed by a much-too-short period of doing absolutely nothing in the sewing room since my last post.  Now that I'm back to work, I figured I'd try to get back on my blog schedule.  What better place to start than Treasury Tuesday?

Today the focus of my hunt was the Dead of Winter.  (Inspired by the rainy, gloomy, cold, dark, muddy, dreary scene right outside my window as we speak.)  I may have started out with a bleak vision, but once I started digging around to see what Etsy has to offer in the way of Winter inspired items-- my spirits started to lift!  Here's a peek at the treasury.  Feel free to look around and like your favorites.  And if you're a Pinterest addict fan like I have become-- Etsy has added a "Pin It" button on each item's page for my your convenience!  Enjoy!!

'Dead of Winter' by LauriesGiftsBiz

A collection of cozy things to warm your heart in the dead of winter.

Bulky Cable Pullove... DenisesKnits $175.00	Dead of Winter JadeStranaghan $30.00	Hand Knit Hood Scar... tvkstyle $180.00	Hand warmers made o... chicksale $39.00
Crocheted Granny Sq... lostsentiments $75.00	Chic Charcoal Grey ... JadeExpression... $42.00	Winter Flower - Fin... OneDecember $12.50	Coat Hooded Cape Wi... chrisst $261.00
Baby girl leggings,... Melimebabybees... $19.00	Antique Old Fulmam ... BestowApprecia... $155.00	Crocheted Chunky He... PaperAndYarnBy... $12.00	Teal blue green dea... Raceytay $15.00
Sale 10% Off - Hand... pixiebell $45.00	Bird Photography Pr... NatureMandalas $25.00	Extra Thick Apres S... consciouslyalt... $110.00	Tree Wall Decals W... NouWall $85.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.