I am so excited to read Ticker by Lisa Mantchev!

Check out the trailer for Lisa Mantchev’s newest book, Ticker!  I absolutely loved her Théâtre Illuminata series and I am so excited to read this one!

We’ve got EARS! Say Cheers!

With less than three weeks remaining until the twins’ Mickey and Minnie Mouse themed birthday party, I’ve got my work cut out for me.  Today I focused on party hats, er, ears.  I found 4-packs of Mickey ears for $2 at Wal-Mart.  I bought four packs.  Since they didn’t have any Minnie Mouse themed ones I bought some ribbon to turn half of my ears into Minnie Ears.  I made eight bows with my glue gun and glued them on the plain ears.  One spool of ribbon was enough to make the 8 bows and still have a few feet left.  I kept half (two packs) plain.  Here’s the finished product!

The finished ears, all ready for a fun Mickey & Minnie Mouse birthday party!

Rosette Bracelets

Our family just recovered from a bout with the stomach flu.  I had a massive amount of laundry and cleaning to catch up on.  Although I got most of the laundry finished, I still took a little time for some much-needed crafting.  I’ve had the supplies to make these for a while now and have just been putting it off.  (More on that later.)  I found the tutorial for these here.  I let the girls pick their fabric and ribbon choices and got to work.  It was pretty quick once I got the hang of making the rosettes.  What do you think?

Rosette Bracelets Top View

Rosette Bracelets Bottom View

As I mentioned before, I’ve had the materials for these quite a while and just “never got around to” making them.  That seems to happen a lot.  I have a project (or five) in my head and I buy the supplies but don’t find the time or motivation to do them.  So, my goal for March is to not buy any craft supplies.  I am going to challenge myself to finish the projects that I bought but never made.  I can also make projects I think of with supplies I already have on hand.  The one exception to this rule will be the things I make for the twins’ birthday party as I only have until the end of March to prepare.  Anyone want to join me in Making Do in March?

Mushy Love Stuff

Hello World, it’s been a while, partly because we’ve hosted lots of family and partly because my latest crafty endeavor is currenty a fail due to my novice spray painting skills.  It’s fixable but will take some time.

Unless you live under a rock, you’ve realized that Valentine’s day will be here Tuesday.  My husband and I don’t usually make a big deal out of it.  Not because we don’t realize the importance of keeping up the romance; quite the opposite.  We are an affectionate family and don’t need a holiday to show it.  I got him a few little gifts the other day but while we were out today the girls pointed out another little something that he’d enjoy.  The gift itself isn’t all that romantic but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t make the wrapping romantic.

I’m a fan of plain brown paper embellished to look lovely.  At first I was just going to wrap it in the paper and add a ribbon but then I started thinking about a great quote I came across this week.  I thought it would be nice to add it to the wrapping.  After I wrote the first verse, I thought it looked a little sparse and decided to look up some quotes and fill it up a little more.  I really got into it and didn’t stop until I had it filled up on all sides.  I found a bunch of quotes that were sweet that made me think of my hubby and our relationship.  I’m really happy with how it turned out.  In honor of the holiday, here are the quotes I used.  I hope they remind you of your loved one.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my soul can reach. – Elizabeth Barrett Browning

The space between your heart and mine is the space we fill with time. – Dave Matthews Band

Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same. – Emily Bronte

If a hug represented how much I loved you, I would hold you in my arms forever. -Mandy Hampton

Soul meets soul on lover’s lips. -Percy Bysshe Shelly

You know you’re in love when you don’t want to fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams. -Dr. Seuss

Love is a game that two can play and both win. -Eva Gabor

If I know what love is, it is because of you. -Hermann Hesse

Love is life and if you miss love, you miss life. – Leo Buscaglia

Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. 1 John 4:7

Love is love’s reward – John Dryden

Love is a promise, love is a souvenir.  Once given, never forgotten, never let it disappear. -John Lennon

A woman knows the face of the man she loves as a sailor knows the open sea. -Honore de Balzac

Love is not finding someone to live with; It’s finding someone you can’t live without. -Rafael Ortiz

He felt now that he was not simply close to her, but that he did not know where he ended and she began. -Leo Tolstoy

Where there is great love, there are always miracles. -Willa Cather

Who could refrain that had a heart to love and in that heart courage to make love known. -William Shakespeare

All you need is love. -The Beatles

True love stories never have endings. -Richard Bach

Who, being loved, is poor? -Oscar Wilde

All that I have loses half it’s pleasure if you are not there to share it. -Clara Ortega

I love you more than there are stars in the sky and fish in the sea. -Nicholas Sparks

Stand by your man.  Give him two arms to cling to and something warm to come to. -Tammy Wynette

Anyone can be passionate, but it takes real lovers to be silly. -Rose Franken

If you have it, Love, you don’t need anything else, and if you don’t have it, it doesn’t matter much what else you have. -James M. Barrie

Love me when I least deserve it, because that’s when I really need it -Swedish Proverb

You come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by seeing an imperfect person perfectly. -Sam Kleen

There is no remedy for love, but to love more. -Henry David Thoreau

As we grow old together, as we continue to change with age, there is one thing that will never change…I will always keep falling in love with you. -Karen Clodfelder

Grow old with me! The best is yet to be. -Robert Browning

Love doesn’t make the world go round, love is what makes the ride worthwhile. -Elizabeth Barrett Browning

~Misty

Birthday Banner Fun!

It’s another lovely day in sunny Arizona!  No, I’m not bragging.  When you non-Arizona peeps are in the midst of beautiful summer weather we’ll be in the midst of three months straight of triple digit temps.  I’ve got to enjoy it while I can before the heat becomes stifling.  The babies were being more demanding than usual today so it was hard to find any “me time.”  After naptime they were finally willing to play together happily in their pack ‘n play so I was able to get a few minutes to finish up a project I started last week.

Full Banner

It’s another project related to the twins’ first birthday party.  Again, I saw this on Pinterest here.  The color scheme is so much fun and so clearly Mickey.  I may not be completely finished with it yet.  I can’t decide if I want to add anything to the plain Mickeys.  Maybe a number one?  Your thoughts and comments are appreciated.  I am so excited for this party!  I can’t wait to see it all come together!

Close up. Do you think the plain Mickeys need something? A "1" perhaps?

Cheaper Than Therapy?

Hello World!

My name is Misty and this is the beginning of what I hope will be a fun-filled blogging journey!  I started this blog as an outlet for my creative endeavors and to share the occasional Disneyland tip.  Though we reside in Arizona, that doesn’t stop us from being Annual Passholders to The Happiest Place on Earth.  What’s a seven hour drive when Disneyland is at the end of the rainbow, er, roadtrip?

I’ve been thinking of trying the blog thing for a while.  I had a family blog years ago but Facebook became much easier to share photos and updates with my family.  It seemed like a good time as I’ve been getting my craft on lately.  Years ago, my friend Peggy described crafting as, “cheaper than therapy” and I believe that to be an accurate description for me.  I love to work on creative projects but I tend to forbid myself from doing fun projects if I’m behind on housework.  It’s a self-imposed punishment that I’ve recently realized is counter-productive.  I’ve found that if I allow myself to take some me time and be creative that I feel rejuvenated and have more energy and will to do the mundane duties.

I’ve been planning my twins’ first birthday party for a month even though their birthday isn’t until the end of March.  Hubby recently bought me the Mickey Font cartridge for my Cricut so that I could start making decorations for the party.  My first project was a sign for the Mickey Ears that I’ll have instead of party hats.  I got the idea from a link I found on Pinterest.  What do you think?