Free Shipping Code

Today I'm listing a bunch of my initial t-shirts for a limited discounted price. You can get FREE shipping when you purcase any shirt and put in the comment box "Happy 7th Birthday Zoe".

Its all about presentation!

I love making fun little scenes/pictures with kids food or making happy faces. I just recently stumbled onto a blog filled with fun plate presentations for the little ones. Stop on by and have a look!

TGIF

Whoooooo hooooo! As you may know, a mothers work is never done. But it is always great to have one less thing to do. Have a wonder*rific* fun filled weekend.

Frugal Painting

This is one of my favorites. I made an easel for the kids to paint on. They loved it and wanted to paint everyday. All it is is a cardboard house with old ice trays.

I paid $1.00 for all of the paint and $1.00 for a pack of brushes.

Birthday Gifting

When the school year begins so begins the birthday party invites. I have three children so that is at least 3 parties per month...give or take one. I decided to make all of the gifts this year and this is what I made for the girls.

A bow pen, ribbon note pad, and a tote bag. I used some Mod Podge to glue a piece of fabric to the outside of the notebook. Then I tied cute ribbons onto the spiral binding. This is the cheap $.10 notebook that Wal-mart sells during the school season. It has 3 holes on also, so I glued a piece of white paper to the book before the piece of fabric. Lastly I glued a chipboard letter on the front.

Happy Mother's Day!

For all that you do, for all that you are, and for all that you wanted to be. I love you mom.

And just in case you missed it the first time, my poem about being a mom. It is written in "spoken word format":

Mother I Am:

Here I stand in a place where diapers and wipes are an everyday reality. My coach bag that was once filled with high hopes and unending dreams is now stuffed with a four year olds screams and a sippy cup filled to the brim with "mommy can I" and "she won't leave me alone".

Yet I drudge on. Trying to find that one sock that was stuffed with cheerios and dirty diapers that just didn't make it in time into the trash can. And if I'd gotten that extra hour of sleep that my four year old promised he'd give me....like the unidentifiable rash that lurks in my ash tray, like old cigarettes butts accidentally knocked to the floor by a 2 year old rage and wrath.....inside the bath tub that carries the ring that I so desperately needed from the man that carries the other half of my heart.

Traveling through the kingdom of unwashed clothes and wiping dirty noses, I come to the realization that one day this will no longer be. I will look back and smile the smile of the cheshire cat and poke my chest out really far while gazing into the distance of long gone trips to the potty when he just wanted to sit and multiple details for my car when she just couldn't help but to get sick. When Power Rangers held the key to momentary happiness and bliss all sealed together with one single kiss.....Mother I am.

This is a poem that I wrote sometime after becoming a mom. I was 20 something and had just had a baby boy, my last child. I was on a small dose of an antidepressant and trying to find my way through postpardum depression from my second pregnancy. I'm glad that I chose to pick up a pencil. The original poem had no periods, commas, or quotaton. Just pieced together like floetry

**This and all of my work is protected under the Digital Millinnium Act of 2008**

Presentation....presentation!

My hubby did all the tying. Isn't this a neat way to package the gifts for the boys? I'm going to try to make an origami shirt out of tissue paper and tie the tie over it. Oh, its just a piece of 1 1/2" grossgrain ribbon.

Hello

As of tomorrow I will be done with school, untill the fall. I plan on updating the blog and sewing loads this summer, so stay tuned. If you would like to see a tutorial or want me to make a tutorial of something, let me know.

Andre'a

Merry Christmas Everyone

Christmas Holiday Comments

My brain hurts!

I'm just about done with school for this semester.....studying really hard for my Wester Civ class. I've already passed my Sociology class with flying colors....An A!!! Yeah, now wish me luck....

Andre'a

Saturday Randomness.....

I was watching the trailer for the new movie Seven Pounds, starring my favorite actor the other day and I think I have an idea to what the movie is going to be about. My guess is that the character played by Will Smith looses his family(maybe to a car accident in which he caused) and feels that he has nothing to live for. He then decides( some how, I dunno!!) that he must "right" his "wrongs" by becoming a live organ donor to seven strangers to whom he has chosen. ....How is that for a plot? Sounds good to me. The hubster and I were discussing this and he agrees completely with me. But, we are going to have to wait until December the 19 to see if I am correct. Watch it for yourself and tell me what you think.

I also have 15(summary) papers due this weekend and a test to study for so.....

Later gaters!!

Andre'a

Now in the shop!

How to make my Fabric Flowers! And for all of my blog readers, you get yours for just $6.00! But that is just until 24 hours from right now! So go and get yours!! (ends on 11:00 a.m. Thursday morning, 11/20/06 cst.)

Use code:"ribbon aficionado" for your discount in the comment box. I'll refund it back to your after your payment has been made.

The shop....click here

~Have a great day!

America's First Black President

Operation Christmas Child

Christmastime is upon us and I was reminded so this morning while shopping at Wal-mart for groceries. This Christmas season the kids and I will make cristmas boxes for Samaritan's Purse to Operation Christmas Child. The idea is simple and easy. All you do is take an empty shoe box and stuff it with goodies (of approved items). Kids from all over the world, who might not have a Christmas with presents, will receive your goodies and be happy. Care to join us? If you are local and want to know where to drop off your box send me an e-mail at heyitsdrea at yahoo dot com. If you are not visit this link to get more information on helping out.

-Andre'a

A Tutorial From The 5 Year Old!

Here is an activity that should keep your little ones busy for a minute while working on their fine motor skills. What you'll need:

1- out of date calendar

1- pen or pencil

1- eager child


The activity #1: Let you child practice writing his/her numbers in the empty box. How easy is that? I've bought ton's of activity books over the years and my little one thought of this one all by himself!



The activity #2: Play Bingo!



The activity #3: Play Number Polo! Roll all 5 dice in a cup and what ever number you roll that where you place your marker. You have to say "number polo" after you roll your dice or you loose a die(but you can pick it back up the next go around, instead of loosing a turn and because you want to be able to get the lower numbers also.......you might want to forget to say "number polo" a couple of times to get the lower numbers!) Roll You need:



5- dice

1-cup

15-30 number markers(beans, paper circles, dots, stickers)



xoxoxo,

Andre'a

Hi!

I miss you all! Jon is turning the big 5 on friday. No more babies in my home, He is officially the big boy.

I have a test tomorrow....wish me luck! I also have two papers due tomorrow, and two papers due for Friday! Yeah me, lol.

This fabby headband needs a good home. $7.50 shipped to the first person to e-mail me at hairflairs at yahoo dot com with the headline "Spooky Headband Sale".

xoxo,
Andre'a

Hello September!

Get Paid For Your Trash

School has just started for us and will soon start for many others. Lunchtime is a time that creates loads of trash for many schools. I found a program that will pay you to upcycle Capri Sun, Honest Kids, and Kool aid drink pouches for $.02 per pouch and $.01 for other pouches(they'll pay for the shipping too!). And they don't stop there! The smart company is called Terracycle, and they will give you money to send in your drink pouches, 20 oz soda bottles, cookie wrappers, energy bar wrappers, yogurt cups, and corks. Now you might be thinking that $.02 might not be alot, but when you add it all up those cents start to make dollars. If you choose to do the 20oz plastic bottles you'll get $.06 per bottle and the other items yield different prices. You can choose to keep your money or choose a school or organization and Terracycle will donate the money on your behalf.

Now what do you think these people at Terracycle will do with these items? Send them to a recycling center? Terracycle will turn your trash into beautiful bags and awesome upcycled goodies and turn around and sell them. Target has some of these bags ready to buy online but not in stores.

Many of us crafters have already been doing this for a while. If you search Etsy for upcycled kool-aid pouches you will see many lovely items made by individual upcyclers. (this link will take you to a yahoo group)

It Happened!!

It came and went! The first day of school. I didn't get to make Zoe an outfit, she wore her princess outfit that her dad picked out while at Disney. Still equally special indeed.

And then it was the first day of KINDERGARTEN for Jon!!




I did get to make something! I made Jon a nap mat cover from the left over Cars fabric, some extra soft minky fabric and a fleece blanket.

More Disney Pictures

Finally some pictures

Remind me to never take a vacation right before school starts, lol. No time to adjust for the kids makes me an unhappy mom.....

Do you remember that problem I was having trying to post the pictures to my blog a couple of posts ago? Well I figured out the issue....I forgot to resize the pictures before posting. Now I have a memory issue with my computer because of all the stuff I have loaded(stuff I really need) and my photos. I didn't manage to gather some photos. Here are a few from Orange beach in Florida.

Postcard Winners!!

We have two winners for my postcard giveaway! The postcards will go out to Kira and Tyra's Family! Yea, I only had two people send me their info so I just included both. Your cards will be send off today.

We are home and getting adjusted to life after vacation, lol. We are also getting ready for school on Wednesday. Where did our summer go??

I'm in a mad dash to find some quick "school" inspired fabric or maybe just some cute fabric to make Zoe's first day of school outfit. Speaking of fabric, I made all of the kids a Disney inspired outfit to wear to Magic Kingdom. The girls got a pair of shorts and a tank-tee with an iron-on applique of 3 mickey heads. The boys just got a few iron-on applique mickey heads made from Cars fabric. My hubby went to the store for me to pick up the fusible backing for the appliques and he bought the kind that doesn't/ can't be sewn in...only ironed on. I didn't even know such a thing existed. It is out there and it works rather well. The kids outfits have been washed and dried with no movement from the applique. I started off making twirls skirts for the girls but the skirt was ruined by the serger when the knife refused to cut anymore! I was almost done, and it was rather cute for a rush job.

Pictures will come shortly after I figure out whats wrong with blogger. I keep getting an error message after I try and load some of the pictures.

Chow for now!

-Andre'a

Magical Indeed!

We are currently on our Magical Vacation...We even stayed an extra day (today). I received a few e-mails asking where we were so...tada! We are headed to eat at the Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney. Many pictures will follow. I think................................. we'll be home tomorrow, lol. We are having too much fun. Anyone want a post card? Send me an e-mail to hairflairs@yahoo.com and I'll select the first sender with the subject title "Magical Vacation Postcard". Your choice will be Mickey and Minnie themed, Princess themed, or Florida themed. Good luck!!

Love,

Andre'a

Tutorial Saturday!

Summer is in full swing and it is almost time to go back to school! Where did our summer go? We don't know but Aug. 6th the kids will be back in school (ALL of them!!), and I will be starting school Aug. 25th!!

I've searched the net for some fun and fabby tutorials that might interest you....and the all have to do with hair accessories.....Yeah!

First we have a tutorial from Laura Gunn from paint in my hair blog. She is going to show you how to make a cute snap clip button clip using scrapbooking button brads.

You can find in on the right hand side titled Button Top Brads. Click here.

Next is a few type of bows from the Ribbon Retreat. They are all in PDF format so you can download and save them. Click here.

And lastly we have reversible headbands from KCQuilts blog. You don't have to download anything for this one just click here.

Let me know if you decide to make any of them. You know how I love pictures!!

-*Ann Dray Ah(Andre'a)

*That's for you Julie!!

Mother I Am.......

The Spoken Word * for those who are unaware

Here I stand in a place where diapers and wipes are an everyday reality. My coach bag that was once filled with high hopes and unending dreams is now stuffed with a four year olds screams and a sippy cup filled to the brim with "mommy can I" and "she won't leave me alone".

Yet I drudge on. Trying to find that one sock that was stuffed with cheerios and dirty diapers that just didn't make it in time into the trash can. And if I'd gotten that extra hour of sleep that my four year old promised he'd give me....like the unidentifiable rash that lurks in my ash tray, like old cigarettes butts accidentally knocked to the floor by a 2 year old rage and wrath.....inside the bath tub that carries the ring that I so desperately needed from the man that carries the other half of my heart.

Traveling through the kingdom of unwashed clothes and wiping dirty noses, I come to the realization that one day this will no longer be. I will look back and smile the smile of the cheshire cat and poke my chest out really far while gazing into the distance of long gone trips to the potty when he just wanted to sit and multiple details for my car when she just couldn't help but to get sick. When Power Rangers held the key to momentary happiness and bliss all sealed together with one single kiss.....Mother I am.

This is a poem that I wrote sometime after becoming a mom. I was 20 something and had just had a baby boy, my last. I was on a small dose of an antidepressant and trying to find my way through postpardum depression from my second pregnancy. I'm glad that I chose to pick up a pencil. The original poem had no periods, commas, or quotaton. Just pieced together like floetry.

***All my work is protected under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 2008.

Zoe is 6

She reminded me that I forgot to add her 6 year picture to the blog, lol. She is officially six. Here is her outfit I made for that special day.

Cupcake With Sprinkles For Dinner

Not to be confused with taking a cupcake from your last party or birthday and eating it for dinner. This cupcake is made from ground turkey, mashed potatoes and corn. Yummy! All you have to do is mix your favorite spices in with the ground turkey or ground beef, we used meatloaf seasonings,mix it up and place some ground turkey into the cupcake pan. We cooked the ground turkey at 350 for about 20 minutes......give or take a few. Took them out of the oven when they were 5 minutes away from being cooked. Placed them on a cookie sheet and then back into the oven for the remaining 5 minutes. This way you take them out of their juices from the cupcake pan and cook off the rest of the juice. Cook and mash your potatoes. Put the mashed potatoes in a plastic bag after they have cooled. Cut the corner off the bag and pipe it onto the meat. Sprinkle with corn and Bam....you have your dinner cupcakes!

A fun variation would be mixing in some food coloring with the potatoes. Something else fun to do is to cut or scoop a circle from the middle( without touching the bottom) of the ground turkey and replace with some ketchup. MMMmmmmn.

There is a breakfast variation made with sausage, grits, and scrambled eggs.........just in case you wanted to know.

No Postage Reguired!

I've receintly discovered a site called Hippopost.com. It is a website where you can send a post card for free! If you allow them to place a tiny advertisement(from one of their sponsors*) they will send a postcard to your recipient FREE of charge. All you do is upload a photo (or you can use one they have) and type a messege, enter your senders info and then hit send! Easy Peasy. Oh, and you have to register also. This might be a fun activity for the kids to send a picture and greeting to a friend or family member.

What have you all been up to as of late? We are hanging out enjoying summer. Yesterday we went to our local water park and tonight we are going to the movies. Monday's are library day. Oh, and we are learning spanish!! Our local public school doesn't have spanish, so Zoe missed out(AP kids in training here!!)....And you know that you have to learn a language to go to college so we are starting off with spanish. We also have Chinese, German, and Latin on the list, but I won't start that until were finished with Espanol. And I digress....What are you all doing to enjoy summer?

-Andre'a

*What is the advertisement? I don't know just yet. I'll let you know when I receive mine.

Giggle...Giggle...

I know you read the Wall Street Journal right? Chinese is the new black! Read all about it. Lol, good thing I took Chinese in high school instead of spanish - right.

-Andre'a

Your going to love this one....

The ever so talented Arlette from the Polka Dot Pineapple has a friend who is giving a way an awesome gift! Wait for it.....................wait for it................................wait for it.....(waving magic wand).........FREE QUILTING....(insert automatic "ooohing", "aaahhing", and over the top clapping sounds). She will take one of your quilts-up to a twin size- and quilt it. How awesome is that? I have my first quilt still sitting here. It belongs to my mother in law-which was promised 2 years ago! Lol, she new I had to find someone to do the quilting or wait until I bought a long arm quilting machine. So I'm entering....and if you'd like to enter, just follow this link to Canton Village Quilt Works-BTW, she is a professional quilter. Yes, all the better. Now off you go....(here comes that wand again)......Poof.

-Andre'a (Your Fabric Fairy God Sista!)

Happy Father's Day!