Penny Desk

I just saw the coolest tutorial for a penny-topped desk over at the blog Epbot.  I am very intrigued by the idea of using pennies, and maybe this would be the project to start with.  I love how the epoxy over the top makes it so shiny and smooth.

 

This is sooooo pretty! 

 

Emily is in Georgia

Emily drove through the night to get to Georgia, and I was more nervous than I expected to be while she drove there.  She is my twenty-year-old daughter, and she is more than capable of doing anything she sets her mind to, but this is one of her bigger adventures.  She is, of course, visiting a boy (isn't there always a boy involved?!).  Her boyfriend, Reggie, is the in the Army and is stationed at Fort Stewart, and she took this week off from work so that she could go down and see him.

I'm proud of my girl, but I was certainly nervous, too.  She left yesterday afternoon from Augusta, Maine, at 3:00 pm and arrived at Fort Stewart at approximately 1:15 pm today.  She stopped only for gas, refreshments, and the ladies room.  

I'm proud of you, beautiful girl.

 

Happy Birthday to Me - a day early

Today my coworkers surprised me with a beautiful cake and a lovely card. It was so sweet!  I'm taking the day off tomorrow so they surprised me a day earlier.

Here is the mastermind of the whole suprise, Rachel Curtis-Doliber!



This is the banner she made me for my cubicle. 

I love Mr. Potato Head so they had a Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head cake made for me. I love these guys!

This is what he looked like after we had eaten quite a bit.  I call him Picasso Mr. Potato Head!

And this is poor Mr. Potato Head at the end of his wonderful life!



I have the BEST coworkers!

16th Birthday

My twin girls turned 16 years old two weeks ago, and we had their birthday party this past weekend.  For their birthday they wanted to stay overnight at a hotel with an indoor pool, along with several of their friends.  Well, several friends for each daughter means MANY teenagers!  I had a total of six girls in the back of my Ford Expedition, which holds eight passesngers, so they left the front passenger seat open and piled all of their bags and presents there.

We were jam packed but had a fun ride down to the Ramada Inn in Ellsworth, Maine.  They were singing to the radio and laughing.  It was fun.  About half way there, they started taking pictures of themselves.  Here are a few:

     

And then we took some pictures of them in and around the pool and the hot tub.

     

They are a great bunch of girls and even though they were exhausted by the time I took them home Sunday morning, I think they all had a good time.

Craft Wars tonight on TLC!

I follow Amy over at Modge Podge Rocks, and she just did a post about TLC's Craft Wars - on tonight!  I've been waiting and waiting for this show to start every since I saw the previews, and I didn't remember that it was on tonight.  Thanks, Amy, for reminding me!!

You should head on over to Amy's blog and see the preview video she has there.  The show looks good!

Smashing Pumpkins Review

I just listened to the new Smashing Pumpkins album Oceania, and let me tell you!  It was good!  I really think it was their best album yet.  I've got to run so that I can listen to some more!



A Wedding!

We had a wedding this weekend!  My son Ben and his girlfriend, Ellen - or should I now say wife? - were married on Sunday.  It was a small but lovely wedding.

This is their furry child.

I'm so happy for them!  They are very much in love and are ready to make a life together.

Busy, Busy Weekend!

I have such a busy weekend coming up!  Tomorrow, I am collecting six teenage girls, along with my own two, and driving them all to a local hotel for a slumber party for my girls' 16th birthday.  Earlier in the week, I posted about the goodie bags I've prepared for everyone.  I'm crossing my fingers that everyone has a good time.

 

I've combined this hotel trip with another weekend event.  I love to take photographs and I'm often asked to take pictures at different parties.  I'm not a professional but I do love taking pictures so I love it when people ask me.  Tomorrow night a coworker is having a surprise 60th birthday party for her husband, and she has asked me to be the photographer.  I'm pretty excited because it will be soooo much fun for me.

And when the party is over, I'll bebop back to my room, check on the girls again, and start editing pictures.  I'll be busy but I'll love every minute of it!

And then Sunday morning I'll deliver all the very overtired teenagers back to their respective homes, hopefully all in one piece.  I'll probably still be editing photos after I arrive home.

Then, Sunday evening, we are having a wedding!  My son and his girlfriend are getting married in an absolutely miniscule ceremony being performed by a good friend of ours.  They're holding the ceremony on the waterfront in Bucksport.  It's a beautiful spot, and I'll take pictures to document the whole event.  I'm pretty darn excited about this one because my son is very much in love and his fiance is a lovely young lady.  I'll post pictures some time next week!

This is a photo of her dress that I bought for her.  As I said, it's going to be a casual, small ceremony and this dress is perfect.

This is the dress, full length, but we purchased it in white.  It came from Amazon, and I think it's adorable.  Here's another close up picture of the detail on the bodice.

She will look lovely in this!

Furniture Before and After

I love, love the to see the before and after of furniture makeovers.  I like to see all of the possibilities these makeovers present.  It gets my creative juices flowing, and I love it!

Here are a few I've found:

 

 
























































Don't you just love a good reveal?

Goodie Bags for Teenagers

I mentioned a few days ago that I'm going to make goodie bags for the guests at my daughters' birthday party.  I've been collecting little things to go into the "baskets" for a couple of weeks now.  I hit pay dirt at The Dollar Tree with this unique looking containers that I thought would be perfect for teenage girls

We have eight girls total coming to the party, my two daughters and three friends each.  Luckily, they share most of their friends so, hopefully, everyone will get along well. 

I bought several of the goodies at The Dollar Tree, and I also picked up a few things at The Christmas Tree Shop.  I tried to find things that came in multiples so that I could spend less money and still have enough items for each container.

This is the whole stash, laid out on my bed.

There is hand sanitizer, hair elastics, fingernail glitter, moist wipes, tissues, squirt guns, gum, combs, and small ball bearing maze games.

The squirt guns did not end up fitting into the containers so I've given them to my daughters to just bring with them to the party. 



Here are a couple of the containers, finished.

And this is what they look like closed up and ready to go!

I had fun with these, and they were so simple.  I would guess that I have approximately $25 invested in these, and they are something all of the girls can take home with them.  Some of the items can be reused, but most are just for fun.

Sweet Sixteen - x2

My twin daughters turned 16 on Wednesday.  16, you say?  Oh, but you don't look old enough to have daughters who are 16 years old!  I know!  Ha, ha - that conversation is the one I play in my head often.  It's not reality; it's just part of my little dream world.

So, they turned 16, I saw a few more gray hairs in the mirror, and we went out to dinner to celebrate.  They chose Chili's because it's one of their favorites, and my husband, the girls, and I had a marvelous time.  Here are some of my favorite photos from our dinner because, of course, I had to take some snapshots.

 

  

We had a really good time and the girls were happy at the end of the meal when four of the serving staff came out and sang to them.  They also received free ice cream sundaes.  

Next weekend we're having a fun sleepover with six of their friends.  I have a project in mind for the goodie bags I do every year for the guests, and I'll share it with you this week.
 

BK Wow!

I tried the new bacon sundae from Burger King yesterday, and can I say wow?!  It was odd at first - the bacon tasted yummy and the vanilla ice cream with chocolate and caramel syrup was delic, but together?  Surprisingly, it was fabulous!  Sweet and salty and creamy and crispy, all together in yummy goodness.  I might just have to try another one today!

Bacon Sundae

So good!

Bunkhouse for the Grandkids

I don't have any grandkids yet, but I really, really want some!  I have a 22-year-old son and a daughter who turns 21 next month, and I think they should provide me with grandchildren, don't you?  I know, I know - they're both still a little young to be producing grandkids for me, but I think they should start working on it.  My son is getting married this summer so I can probably count on him to produce a child or two soon - I'm crossing my fingers.

One of the reasons I want grandchildren so much is so that I can spoil them . . . and then send them home to their parents!  Another reason is because I have been dying to make a bunkhouse for the grandkids.  I have this excellent attic space that would be perfect for built ins.  I will need to have my son build a new set of stairs over the existing ones on our second floor because right now the attic can only be accessed from a bedroom at the back of the house and that's not what I want.

My plan includes a sitting area with a television for video games and then some very cool built-in bunkbeds, like these:

               

I think all of these are so much fun!  I want my grandchildren to remember Grammy and Grampy's house as fun, and I want them to come over often.  I can't wait!

Graduation Gift

My family and I attended a graduation party on Saturday for my husband's cousin's son (say that three times fast!), Thomas.  He's a great kid, and we enjoy visiting with him and his family whenever we get the chance.  We brought a gift for him, of course.  Can you guess what it was?!  Money!

What newly-graduated teenager doesn't want money?!

I wanted to do something a little special though instead of just handing him the cash and saying, "Here" so I started thinking about some different, more unique ways of giving him money.  While I was looking around on the internet I kept coming across various quotes, relating to graduation.  Several examples:

If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door.
- Milton Berle

Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.
- Judy Garland

“I hope your dreams take you... to the corners of your smiles, to the highest of your hopes, to the windows of your opportunities, and to the most special places your heart has ever known.”
- Author Unknown

“Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were and ask why not.”
- George Bernard Shaw

I started thinking about how I could maybe use some of these quotes and this is what I came up with:

Supplies:

Jar
computer
$1 bills

I purchased a jar from Walmart for $5.84 and picked up 30 $1 bills from the bank.  You could put any amount of money in the jar but you might want to purchase a smaller or larger jar, depending on how much money you want to give in your gift.

I then searched the internet for more quotes, printing each of them out on regular paper but each with a different font and style.  I wanted every quote to look different.

I cut out each quote and then began rolling them like little certificate scrolls.  I also rolled the dollar bills.

This is what they looked like.

I then placed them into the jar, alternating between the quotes and bills.  I ended up with a present that looked compact and elegant, without just being the standard cash inside of a card.

I don't think there's anything wrong with money in a card and, in fact, Thomas probably would have appreciate that just as much as he did this, but I felt better giving him something that felt a little bit special.

Congratulations, Thomas!