Christmas Tree Skirt

Okay, so don't ask me what this blog is, because I don't know. ha

I guess it's a conglomeration of anything that interests me. 

...On that note, here is a Christmas tree skirt I made today. I found the idea on  Joy Ever After (which is awesome, btw!), and had to try it out, especially since our poor tree has been crying out for one. Well, it's been crying out for more than just a skirt... We left all of our Christmas decor in WA, so having to start all over on an extremely limited budget, forces me to do projects like, well, this. Which is not a bad thing! I've had a lot of fun being more crafty than ever this past year. :)

So, without further ado, I bring you my post on how I made a tree skirt from window curtains (feel free to  now hit your browser's back button to go back to whatever it was you were doing ;)

I found 4 of these window curtains at Salvation army for I think about 20 cents each 6 or 7 months ago. I loved the texture of the fabric, the ruffled bottom, and the crocheted trim. I knew I could do *something* with them! So they have been sitting in the bottom of my fabric drawer since then, just waiting for a project deemed worthy to come along. (Although I did take the crochet trim off 2 of the panels to embellish a shirt for my sister. Those panels are at the back of the skirt, and is not even noticeable that they are MIA)

 I cut each panel in half, and made a petal shape out of newspaper. Then I folded each cut panel in half, and cut along the one side of the pattern. I also didn't end up using the bottom part of the pattern, I made it so the widest part of the pattern stopped right above the ruffling.

Sewed right sides together (I wanted it to look more finished than Joy Ever After's)

 And, there you have it! Finished tree skirt. I love love love it! And extremely easy, too. Yay!

Puffy Paint: revisited

This is my latest craft venture. I saw a blog tutorial on turning cheap vases into antique porcelain look-a-likes with puffy paint and spray paint. So here goes!

This is my Salvation Army find. 75 cents, not a bad gig! Major potential here, folks.

I had way more fun than I anticipated with the puffy paint! How one little thing can bring back so many memories... ahhhh.  : )

Prepping for the final step. 

aaand, VOILA! My beautiful vase. 

I picked up a few more vases for a quarter each, but I have some other ideas that I'll be trying out on those babies.

What's one of your puffy paint memories/creations from way back when? 

I think all of Spokane must've read my post on WinCo... ;)

So... just to let everyone know, I did get out this morning to grocery shop at WinCo (their grand opening was 9am today). I arrived there at about 10 after 9... the parking lot looked like it was black Friday, and with that always accompanies a line, but I was going to be tough, so I got Ava & a 4yr old girl I watch on Mondays out of the car... As we were walking towards the store, I overheard someone say there was a 2hr wait, because there's 1000 people in the store already, but it didn't look too incredibly bad to me, so I figured he didn't know what he was talking about and made my way to the end of the line... or so I thought...

The line stretched clear to the back of the building!!

I am a die-hard WinCo lover, but me with no coat, a 2 & a 4yr old, and almost ready to deliver this kid.... I don't think so.

So we walked back to the car, and went to the mall instead. The girls had a great time playing, and I got to do at least some sort of shopping (which this is the better kind anyway!).

I'm thinking I'll go there late tonight, when hopefully it won't be crowded, and at least I won't have Ava with me.
Did any of you get to experience what I did this morning?

...I should be paid for this.

Ok, anyone that knows me knows I sometimes get obsessed over stupid things. Take for example, my obsession over the grocery store WinCo.

Back when Mo and I lived in Federal Way, we lived right across the street from this haven of low prices and bulk food, and I made sure to tell everyone I knew what they were missing out on if they didn't get their groceries there. I once made a co-worker of mine drive up from Tacoma (1/2hr trip) to shop there, and he came back to tell me that when they gave him the total, he almost cried, saying that now he gets to revamp his whole budget to spend more on his kids because that's how much he saved (grant it, he is more on the dramatic side...) !
So, the reason I'm writing this (in case you were wondering, because I'm sure you were...) is because ever since we moved here to Spokane, I cringe whenever I buy things at normal grocery stores, knowing I could be saving so much more. About a year and a half ago, I heard a rumor that WinCo was coming in the Fall of '08, and when I went to Seattle last June, I made sure to investigate to find out if it was true. One of the employees told me that's what he heard too, and so I have been patiently waiting for the arrival of the best grocery store in the world.

Alas, it has arrived!!!!

A couple months ago I saw it being built on N. Nevada St, and I have been tracking it's progress ever since. I also got a flyer the other day saying that they're hiring, so it's probably just a matter of a couple weeks before they open!

I hope you all take the opportunity to at least try it out, then tell me if I let you down or not.

You can decide if this post was really over-exaggerated, or just slightly over-exaggerated ;)