Army Party

I AM BACK!  I have a lot to share, but I am going to take it slow and steady.  First a few updates.  I am still located at the Stillwater Antique Center in Greenville, RI.  I will be switching booths from 107 in the front to the furthest aisle, corner booth in the back left corner.  I did not need as much space and really couldn't keep up with it.  I am going to try to step back a little and refocus.  I hope to make a lot of changes and get more organized over the next 6 months.  I have been dwelling on the idea that I feel stuck between who I am and who I want to be.  I have a goal to combine these two realities and become a whole person!  Is it possible?  We shall see.  I can be so organized in some areas and so scattered in others.  I go 100 miles an hour every day and I have had enough and so has my family.  So I have put on the brakes.  I am getting my priorities in line and I will see where it leads me.

 I do have a Farmer's Day planned for this Sat 10-4 at Primrose Valley Gardens.  I would love to see some of you there.  I will be giving 20% off your entire purchase including custom orders if you mention that you read it here. This is the link to Primrose Valley Gardens facebook page to give you more info. https://www.facebook.com/events/105353619620150/

Ok, moving on, so as far as where I have been and what I have been doing, well that will take a while.  We had a very busy summer and fall.  Over the next month or so I hope to update you on all the trips, parties, and projects that have been happening around here. I am really excited to share some of the projects because they are ones that have been on my "to do" list for a long time.  It feels so good to get them done.  And I love how they came out.  YAY!

For now I would like to share the pictures from Joey's army party.  This was from last January and I never got around to posting them.  Joey turned 6 and  was really getting into army stuff.  He decided he would like an army party.  So I went to work researching ideas for a party and this is what we came up with.  We rented the hall at our church.

 So when the troops first arrived they had to be "processed".  This is where they received their flag sticker, dog tags with their name on it, face painting, and picture.  I printed the flag out onto large mailing labels and cut them into individual stickers.  We placed them on their arm sleeve. 

 They then found which "squad" they were in.  The troops were broken into two squads for the games to come.  They sat and colored pictures of tanks and fighter jets while they waited for all the troops to be processed. 

 Emma was a great soldier!  She held down the fort!

 I am very upset that I did not get pictures of the MRE that I made.  You can see the labels that I made.  I printed them on to mailing labels and then cut them out.  I put the food listed on the label in brown paper bags, folded them over and attached the label.  They were the cutest little brown packages!

 Boot camp was fun.  Sgt. Bobby had the troops solute and did role call where each soldier had to answer "SIR, YES SIR". 

 Next was the games.  They did a relay race and obstacle course.  They also had stand on a chair and drop a paratrooper and see who got the closes to the landing spot.  There were prizes for the winners.

 The final activity was a rescue mission in which each child had to go with bandages (toliet paper) on to the battle field and collect wounded soliders.  NO MAN LEFT BEHIND.  They each had 8 little soldiers to wrap and bring back to camp.  They each were given a purple heart sticker and and certificate.  Again I just printed and cut the sticker.  The certificate I made my own and printed it on camo paper.  I have attached a picture of one similar below.  I can not find the one I made.

 

 I had planned to make my own cake but did not end up with enough time.  SHOCKER!  I called the local grocery store and begged to get an army cake fast.  They did not make an army cake....hmmm...ok, can you make dirt??  Yes, GREAT!  I just added a toy tank, perfect!

 

Upon completing their mission they received their own box army play box.  I got containers from the dollar store, made a mission complete sticker and stuck it on top.  We have many little rocks in our yard so I filled the boxes up and put in army men, tanks, and jets.  They all had a great time!

I can not believe it has been a week since my last post.  I had such a busy week that it fees like just a couple days have past.  Let's see...Tuesday my dad and Sue left to go back home to WI.  I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning the house and working in the yard.  Wednesday after I took the boys to school I went to the orthopedic to get the splint off my finger.   For those of you that don't know, I dropped a dresser on my finger back in March and ruptured my tendon that is right at the knuckle.  Do not do that, it really hurts!  So it is stiff and I am doing exercises.  I am suppose to have complete movement back in 2 weeks.  I am not feeling it, but we'll see.  As I had mentioned earlier, I helped to plan a very big end of school field day event for the boys' school.  I had many things to prepare for that.  I got it all done and it was an amazing day.  I have a whole post to share on that another day.  Thursday night I was up late cooking corn, making a salad, stuffing gift bags and painting a sign.  Friday we did not get home until after 8 pm from our big day that ended with Joey graduation from kindergarten and Jonny from preschool.  It was such a sweet day.  This weekend we got a lot of small projects done and spent time together as a family.  After church we spent the day in the yard.  The boys played in the sandbox with the hose to make trenches.  Then they bounced in the bounce house.  Bobby took them each separately for a bike ride.  Jonny is learning to ride his with training wheels, and Joey is learning to ride with out training wheels.  Big steps for them both.  We had dinner from the grill and topped the evening with an ice cream cone.  It has been a great weekend.  I love summer time!

I am very excited to show some glimpses of the playroom.  I am still working on a couple projects and have some other details still left to do, so I am not ready to show the whole room.  It may take a while to put the finishing touches on, so I wanted to share some of what we have done.  I love the way it is coming together.  I admit that I am NO photographer and do not have much patients for editing, so the pictures are not the best, but you can get the idea.  The color on the wall is Benjamin Moore's Revere Pewter.  The trim is BM's White Dove.  I made the curtains and bean bag pillows.  The playroom rules sign is painted in BM's Deertrail, which is the same color as my dining room.  I love how all the colors work so nice together.  This sign was my most challenging yet.  I have seen a couple of these on etsy, but they were smaller than what I wanted and didn't have the exact words that I wanted, so I created my own.  This sign took me a while to do but it was worth it.  It turned out beautifully and adds personality to the room.

The coat rack I made out of a piece of wood from an old mill that my brother got for me.  I love the history and character that is in this wood.  I cleaned it, sanded it, and waxed it.  I loved the deep aged color and all the nail holes.  I ordered hooks online.  I wanted this room to feel rustic and sophisticated but also keep it fun and young.  I went with ABC and 123 for the hooks hoping it would keep the feel I was going for.  I was so excited when it was finished and looked even better than I hoped.  This project was one of my favorite, because not only does it add warmth to the playroom, but it also gets the coats out of my kitchen hallway where they previously were.  When I started to design for this room I knew I wanted certain elements.  I wanted a place that they could sit and write, read, color, paint, be creative.  So for Christmas, Bobby's parents got the kids a table and chair set.  I found an old wooden tool caddy and painted it grey to keep on the table for all there art needs.  It is exactly what I was hoping for.  They are already enjoying being artful!  I love it.  Another idea I really wanted was to have an area to display artwork.  I thought the use of a clothes line was the best way to display many pieces while taking up the least amount of space.  It works great, looks adorable, and they boys light up when they see their art displayed.

Well that is all I have to share for now.  Let me know what you think!!  You can leave a comment after this post.  Have a great Monday!!

Kelli

And The Winner's Are.....

Thank you everyone that came to my booth opening weekend.  It was so encouraging to me to hear your feedback and see your messages in my book.  It truly means a lot to me.  The Stillwater Antique Center is opened daily 10-5 so if you did not have a chance this past weekend come and visit anytime.  I am located in the first row on the right in booth 107.  I would love to hear from you so if you go be sure to sign my guest book. 

I have another busy week, but I think things will slowly get back to normal for me by next week.  We have made HUGE progress in the playroom and I am almost ready to share some pictures, maybe tomorrow!  I have finished a few projects and I am still working on a couple more.  I love the way it is all coming together.   

This week is the last week of school for my kids and then the summer begins, YAY!  I am helping to plan a huge field day for them on Friday.  It will be filled with crafts, games, food, and gifts.  When I have a little more time to write and post pictures I will share it all with you. 

Now for the moment you have been waiting for........

Chosen randomly by random.org are the winners!

The winner of the first giveaway for 2 french lavender sachets goes to Emily L.  Congratulations!!! 

The winner of the second giveaway for the 10 X 13 burlap print is Roubina Congratulations!!!

I have to say I was very surprised at the results because both winners REALLY wanted to win the giveaway that they won.   That never happens for me!   You each were entered 3 times for the second drawing and I really appreciate your efforts.  Again a big thanks to all of you that stopped by and I hope you come again!

Custom Burlap Print Giveaway!!

Today was another busy day.  I left this morning with all three kids in tow to go to school.  I teach at their school on Thurs. mornings.  We had a great day.  The kindergarteners were testing so I had the my class (preschoolers) out on the deck.  We talked about spring time and growing gardens.  We also talked about bees and garden bugs.  We sang the Itsy Bitsy Spider as we made pictures of a friendly spiderweb using yarn and glue.  Then we painted with watercolors.   I had them each plant their own green bean plant.  I can't wait to see a little sprout come up.  They are such good kids and I love being able to work with them.  I finished up with them just before lunch.  I left my 3 to have lunch and headed over to my booth to drop off some more items, then picked them back up and headed home.  I still had grocery shopping to do, cleaning, laundry, and cooking to get done.  I was going to make a few pillows and more sachets but I am wiped.  I am actually not feeling good, so I am just going to rest.  I have to stop in at the booth first thing tomorrow and leave a notebook, but other than that what is done, is it for now!  If you do not have plans this weekend stop in at Stillwater Antique Center in Greenville, RI.  My booth is #107 right in the front row on the right.  I will have a guest book to sign so let me know what you think!

On to the next giveaway.  This is a BIG one, I may never do this one again.  I am going to giveaway one of my custom burlap framed prints in a 10 X 13 size (the size above is a 16 X 20). If you are not married or do not want a family name or est date, I can put Bienvenu (welcome in French)  or Welcome (in English) with the fleur de lis instead.  What you need to do is go to my booth this Friday, Saturday, or Sunday and sign my book.  For a second chance to win come back to my blog and leave a comment with your favorite item in my booth.  For a third chance to win put on your facebook status that you are going to the opening of Burlap to Pearls at Stillwater Antique Center in Greenville, RI.  Then comment on this page and let me know you did it.  If you do not live around here or do not win the giveaway and would like to purchase one of these prints they are available in my Etsy shop.  You still have a chance to enter the giveaway for 2 of my lavender sachets.  you can find out how on my post from yesterday.  I will announce the winners of both giveaways on Monday! 

I would love some feedback so leave me a comment and let me know what you think or even just say hi!

Kelli