I have found my steam mop....

And it is a Thane H20 Mop......Ahhhhhh........

I first tried a Shark Steam Mop & I really didn't like it. It didn't really seem to clean much. I have linoleum floors & they have "craters" and dirt settles in there....anyways I used the Shark twice & it still didn't pick up any of the dirt. So I looked into a different steam mop & came across the H20. It had great reviews & comes with a carpet glider. So it can also steam my carpets (and furniture!). I returned the Shark & purchased the H20 (it was $20 more).

I picked it up from Shopko, they are at Target as well. It worked like a dream - just liked I thought it should.

Here is a picture of it - it's an "As Seen on TV" one - he he he - but it worked great! Here is a picture of my little gem & a GROSS photo of what was on the mop head - it steamed so much my kitchen window actually fogged up a bit.

Christmas Morning

Here are a few photos from Christmas Morning. We all had a lovely time. Audrey was too funny & gushed over everything - including clothes & socks......it was too funny.

I also received a steam mop (my results of that are TBD still) and a Keurig coffee maker (see photo). I am in LOVE with that thing! I usually drink 1 or 2 cups of coffee a day & these ones are perfect. Each time - perfect.

I hope everyone is having a nice Monday!

A Few Handmade gifts...

Here are a couple photos of some gifts I made this year. I love the way they turned out - I usually don't like my "paper-crafts" so I tend to not make them.

The first one is a photo of my dad as a baby (well, a copy of one) and then I took a copy of his hospital info & a baby bracelet of his I found in a box of random things. I put it all into a shadow box & was really happy with the way it turned out.

This is a simple letter silhouette that I made using my computer (I found a pretty font in Word) and a piece of scrapbook paper. I did cut the letter out with tiny scissors & then used double-sided tape & a glue stick to attach it.

I hope you all had a lovely holiday season - we sure did!

Holiday Treats

So what do you call it when you make yummy holiday goodies, but you didn't bake? Chocolatizing? Confectioning? Making the world better with treats?

Well while I ponder that thought I will show you a picture of my goodies. There are all different kinds of delish.....There is chocolate cookie bark, triple dipped oreos & mint cookies. They are all bagged and tagged for my work people (but shhh - don't tell them- they are for Christmas Eve)

Saturday In Review...

So we had a lazy, but productive Saturday. The girls colored & played nicely this morning while I made breakfast. Will got new tires put on his car and had to go to work.

While Sydney napped I wrapped presents, I thought Audrey was going to lay down, but she helped me wrap presents. She even wrapped this one all by herself - it's for you mom!!

After dinner & a bath Audrey helped Sydney get "ready for work" which included a cigar box purse, Audrey's boots about 20 headbands and a dishtowel as a shawl.

It was a wonderful day...

And It's A Wrap....

All of my presents are bought, my cards are all filled out & mailed......and my packages are mailed too....

The only thing left for me this holiday season to do is finish up a few gifties & some major wrapping.

Ahhhh......

Filling Orders...

Here is a look at the orders I filled tonight - I did the same thing last night.....I feel so very lucky to have people wanting my handcrafted goodness for their holiday gift giving. And I am also elated at the fantastic local shoppers that have been popping up. Both online (thanks Kelly!), at the Appleton Market & at Dainty Daisies. It is so great when people support local artist/crafters and businesses.

I am also mailing my dad his holiday package tomorrow. I have it all here, hiding on my porch, I have all my orders filled so I can now wrap & package his gift up and mail it all the way to sunny FL.

A little something new...

I have wanted to make these for a while now....I have had the discs, made a few here & there for Dainty Daisies & the markets & here is one I custom made on Etsy and I fell in LOVE with it!.....I have made more for Michelle's shop & am taking some to the market tomorrow - which will be my last day there until next summer! The Appleton market will run from 9-1. I will have some ornaments & new magnets and girly onesies too.....stop by & check it out.....

It is absolutely frigid here today! I just finished loading up my car & am going to take a scalding shower to try & heat up.

I stopped by the thrift store today on my way home & scored a few shirts for my mom, a boat-load of zippers for her & a little bag of mini deer for Michelle.

A Productive Morning....

So I fell asleep early last night.....and woke up wide awake at 4. Sigh......While I would usually enjoy this by getting my grocery shopping done or going into work early I was not able to do that today. We have a "parent-teacher" meeting this morning at 8:30 for Audrey's preschool so it really didn't make much sense for me to go to work & then have to come back home to drive back to work again (little too much back & forth for me).

So instead I painted some cute little girl onesies, had a pot of coffee & polished up some fingerprint jewelry. I had made a few of the fingerprint pieces & the weirdest thing happened when I fired them - the sides curled up. I wonder if the temperature change was too dramatic for them as I usually have done this in the summer/fall and I had the pieces drying out on the porch. I do like them, they have a nice natural look to them. The one in the photo is mine. They are made of silver, and yes if you are local I can make you one too :)

Also here is a photo of our tree at night (or early morning as the case is)......

All Lit Up.....

So we decorated our Christmas tree tonight. How I love doing that. This is the first year that Audrey really seemed to appreciate all the ornaments. She ooo'd & aahh'd at them saying how beautiful they each were. It was really cute. Syd helped out too but after a few minutes she was much more interested in jumping on the bed and feeding her babies (dolls - she's such a little mumma!) .

Each year Will manages to find an ugly ornament to purchase (on purpose) so we laugh when he puts them up - they include a "ghetto snowman" he only has 1 eye, a mouse made out of seashells - with google-eyes that don't google so the thing is cross-eyed, a Santa painted on a bullet-shell casing and a few other gems....in addition to our tree-top star which was purchased at Cranberry Fest in Warrens after I picked it up at the craft fair & he proceeded to say how ugly it was & gross only to have the artist who MADE IT standing right behind him laughing at him - so he bought it for me :) I love it....it's a mache star with a face.....

And then there are the ornaments from when I was a baby......my little pair of pink booties my mom made, a little Pinocchio Book, a tiny little cloth doll ornie & a freakish sequined clown head.....my oh my I just love each every one of them......it is so nice to gaze over at the tree & know where each little ornament came from - each has it's own story.

Well I suppose I should get some work done, the kids are sleeping & Will had to run to the store as a hose broke under the bathroom sink & there is a blizzard coming so he went now.

I hope you enjoy the photos of the tree as much as I do - they make me all warm & fuzzy. I recommend looking at them with holiday music blaring like we do.

Oh Christmas Tree...

Yesterday we went to get our Christmas tree......I would prefer an artificial tree but my husband loves going out into the woods (aka tree farm) to cut one down, so we do.....

We found our tree in record time this year - it was seriously only 10 minutes. We liked one from the first section we looked in (that never happens!)

Right now it is up & has lights on, no ornaments yet, that is for today. I am also going to the Aurora gift shop to check out my inventory. Have a nice & lazy Sunday....I will!

Dance Party You Say??

My little girls just love to turn on their radio & get down. We like to call it "finding your funk". Our regular dance party grooves are Michael Jackson - he is the king of pop - just ask Audrey. Sydney likes to hold onto the shelf & jump but Audrey will just flail around. It is getting to be hard to get her out of her little tutu outfit so mom is making them both tutus that can be worn over any outfit (the one she has now is sewn to a little body suit). Shhhhh...don't tell them.

In crafting news I have picked up some cool new copper pieces - I am SO curios to see what they turn out like from the sulfur...we'll see I just need a few minutes to try....

Got to run!