Hobbies Anew

New hobbies are always fun. Its something to escape too when we have a little time to devote too something special to us. I can not fathom how someone can say, "I have not hobbies." What a goofy answer. Of course you have a hobby, it may be you saying, "I don't have a hobby" to everyone, but we all have one. And the wonderful concept about hobbies is we can always change if you grow tired of one or wish to start something new.
This world is filled with some many possibilities. Learn a new language. Try to paint. Try a new recipe. Start reading again. Don't feel discouraged because someone could be better or you might fail at it. If one doesn't work attempt another. Also don't say, "I am talented enough." It is not about being talented it is about enjoying experience of something you enjoy, whether it be the feel of wet clay in your hands or feeling the sweat after a long hike. Go out in the world and do something!

Until another day toodles :)


Also please check out my new blog is can at the link below

http://t-annphotos.blogspot.com/

The Parental Walk of Shame

I am sure every parent has done it. The Walk of Shame, fleeing the store as fast as possible with a screaming child refusing to behave.

Well the other day, I had my turn at the walk of shame. I was at Costco. Knowing full well my daughter had missed her nap, I thought if I indulged her with the abundance of samples, smiles and promise of pizza at the end, it would all work out to be a pleasant trip. She was doing good. A little feisty, but quiet enough to not be noticed by many, all the while her brother is smiling and waving to everyone possible.

Now I think when spoiling your child, now and then is fine, but lines need to be drawn. Like for our family, you can't run around the store without shoes on. Which sadly for me was the last straw for my little "angel" the Grouch.  Sitting at the table with her pizza, she wanted to take off without shoes on. My answer of "No" sent a loud scream from her lips. Not just one, but many blood-curdling screams. And of course came all the stares of everyone around us. Every single person who has nothing better to do, but continue to stare and watch the show.

I jumped up ready for my grab everything and run motion, when I was stopped. A Sweet lady about the age of my own mama came up to me and said, " Oh I remember that. My youngest is in high school but I remember doing that with all three of my daughters." I slowed a little feeling much better, but still quick as my daughter let out another shriek.  Then I turned to see a man dressed like he was made of money, holding his 2 year old son. He smiled as well and pointed to his child in a gesture of "He does it too. I understand."

When I finally made it too the door ready to leave, a sweet elderly couple answered, "You don't rush dear. All parents go through this."

I was almost in tears when I made it back to the car. Not one, but three times, someone was sweet and reached out in my moment of panic and frustration. I want to say to those three, THANK YOU!!!! Thank you for the encouragement. Thank for not standing there and staring like was spectacle, even when I looked like one.

Why don't we do this more often when parents are in public dealing with unruly child? Especially for the mother juggling groceries and children? Why do we stare and not offer encouragement, even if it is just a smile.Next time this happens offer a kind grin. If you can give the struggling parents a few words of encouragement.

Bless someoneday

Toodles

Take Bac the Spirit of Giving - Happy Valentine's Day

Not much happens in February, just a strange man-made holiday that forces people to buy cheap cards for their kids to exchange and even pricier gifts for your significant other. At least this is what I hear from a lot the people around me. Honestly I think some of them are the same people who complain about Christmas coming early, but that is beside the point.

So what if it is a man-made holiday "forcing" people to buy gifts? (No one is threatening life, but somehow it is forcing.)  Who cares that people have to say something sweet to a loved one? What is so wrong with being loving? 

The problem is not the holiday, it is the commercialism, and that is something we deal with everyday. Every where we go, some big company has something to advertise in our faces trying to get us to buy things. And somehow we have let commercialism win. Not just purchasing, but letting them take our holidays.  We have let them grey our happy moments of giving. They have dulled our words, lowered out spirits, taken our joy and we let them do it.The fact is, yes big companies play their part, but we are mostly to blame. Instead of making Valentine's day our own, we become lazy, follow some predetermined route and then complain about...

Wake up!!! Be happy! Chocolates, flowers, dates, and gifts make no one happy. It is the heart behind it that does. It is the smile and joy one person has and it being freely given to another that make things awesome!

Now, I am not saying stop buying Hallmark cards. Some people don't have that special touch with words. I am not even saying stop buying the cheesy stuffed animals, or the overpriced chocolates. But stop and make your own choice. Maybe buy her favorite chocolates and then write her love in your own words. Or maybe make up his dream date night, or buy him the chocolates this round. (Its not midnight yet so there is still time. )

But stop wallowing in complaints and not wants, and do something you do want and enjoy giving something to someone you love. 

Put thought and heart behind your actions....

God bless

Toodles

***DIY Camera Case/Bag***

So once again I was faced with the problem with needing something that was a little out of my price range. After purchasing my new Canon camera, I was in need of a camera bag that would hold my camera equipment securely and safely.

My problem was that most good cases were 50-100 dollars, for a nice padded one that holds camera and lens. So I fell back to my question I always ask myself...

"Can I make it myself?

And sure enough with an idea, a visit to Pinterest, I saw others had done it before, I decided to do myself!  Now this looks like ordinary fashionable pink purse. And it was, until I added to it and made it into my own camera bag. 

One diy blogger also wrote about a the benefit of the camera bag looking like a purse. It doesn't scream, "Shiny Expensive Camera" is in it, unlike other camera bags that obviously look like they hold cameras.



1 yard of material of your choice. (What I used was about half to 3/4 yard of material. Get a a yard to play it safe. And make sure its a durable material. Canvas, cotton, etc are great. Something like satin ravels and it hard to sew.)
Velcro
Velcro glue (You can sew on the Velcro, but the glue works fine as well.)
2 packages of foam (1' x 17' x15")
Ruler
scissors
Sewing machine
thread

You can follow measurements for the diy blogs linked below, or mine own. I recommend you figure your own measurements, because each camera is different and each purse holds differently. 
My own measurements were

Long foam sides was 9 inches long by 5-6 inches tall.
Shorter foam sides was 6 inches long by 5-6 inches tall
The bottom was about 8 inches long by 5-6 inches width.

The idea is to fit is snuggly.

My pieces that go in the foam box, I eyeball measured. You want a piece that will encase you camera body and another to circle around the lens.  The rest of the space is for holding charger, extra batteries, etc.

My picture above shows bigger measurements, but later I cut them down to smaller size. But the idea is to cut your foam to size to form this topless box. It will be held together with clothe and Velcro.

With your material, I cut my two long pieces of material that measured about 35 inches long by about 8 inches tall.

I sew one short edge and one long side. Then with each piece of foam I put it in the casing and sewed it along the side to make a pocket.

This part takes time and can be difficult is you are working with larger pieces of foam. With larger pieces of foam it might be better to make each foam pieces it own casing then sewing the cases together to make the padding for the camera bag.

The bottom piece and the as many divider pieces you have each get their own material casing.

  Next part is attaching Velcro. If you are sewing it on, you would do this step before sewing the foam pockets. Here I just used Velcro glue, following the glue instructions to attach the strips. Hook side on the divider thinnest sides and two long loop strips on each side of the lengths of the case. The last is to attach Velcro to each of the short end of the case walls. This way you can disassemble the whole thing if need be.

And this is the finished product looks like. It looks little funny by itself. But put it in your purse its adorable and protects your camera very well as any expensive bag does.

 Hope you enjoyed this DIY. Below are the links to DIY'ers version of this Diy, that I found on Pinterest. You will notice we have theme here with blue and white swirly material.

I owned the purse, but when I purchased it was 8 dollar Target, clearance buy.

But the whole project total was less than 20 bucks for foam, material, Velcro and glue. Including the purse still under 30 dollars!!! A much better price than 50-100 price tag for something that doesn't look cute!!!

Enjoy your day!

Toodles!

Ps. The reason you don't see my new camera in these pictures is because I was using it to take these pictures. :)

http://vanillaandlace.blogspot.com/2011/01/diy-camera-pursebag.html


http://buchorn.com/2011/12/04/project-diy-camera-bag-purse/

Enjoy the small moments.

Sometimes we wonder how in the world we grow up so fast. One day we are building forts from couch cushions the next we are wake up every morning and go to work. Sometimes we get so lost in a daily routine we forget what it was like to be children. Often I have found myself having one of those cranky day, where anything and everything my children do feels like they purposely trying to push my buttons. 

Then it hit me, I was so lost in my day I had forgot to step back and enjoy the moments I have now. My daughter one day was so fascinating with blue ribbon one I decided to make a video of it. It is to remind us to stay calm and enjoy our moments. Let our children enjoy their play time. Let them play and let them wonder.

Enjoy your day!

Toodles

Keep up the great work! Keep going!

How have you been doing on your New Year Resolutions? I hope you have gotten a little farther than the first week. If you are anything like me, you probably gave up on some of your goals by now. However this is not the case for this year! 

Earlier this year I told myself that I really wanted to get back into my art work, painting especially. With children and hubby in school it takes time and work and oil painting is not a little craft that ca whipped out with minutes. I was surprised I was able to get even four painting done so far.

You heard that! Four painting in the 3 weeks of the New Year! In honor of the new Hobbit movies that have been coming out I decided to paint a Hobbit hole. It looks so quaint.

This one reads, "Stand with me in the rain" I love the romantic feel and the cool tones. 

And then my flower paintings. I love doing close-up paintings of flowers. The Poppy flower one is special to me. The rose is not finished yet, but it was just a random rose I decided would look pretty. If you look at my youtube channel or older posts, you will see some of my older work. My older pieces hang around my place, but I thought I need some new pieces to hang up. 

Doesn't it feel great to find yourself succeeding in your goals? Actually getting my paintings out from head and into person always inspires me to paint more, but also just to keep chugging along.  Sometimes we just need a little inspiration to keep going. Sometimes even if we get half way there, like maybe instead of losing 20 pounds, you lost 10. You still did a great job if you stop now, but you will do even better if you keep going.   

I hope you all find the inspiration to keep going!

God Bless

Toodles

I

I DIY'd my own Toddler Bed :)

Well not even a week into the New Year and it has been quite a productive week here at my house. My son, Baby Boy, just turned one. No longer a tini guy, it is about time he starts moving into a bigger bed.  He is not quite old enough to sleep in a toddler yet, but I thought it would be a good idea to get him one now to start introducing it to him.

Let me tell you, it is no easy task finding a toddler bed. My daughter never had one because a friend gave us nearly new twin size bed. I thought maybe I could buy a cheap plain one at Wal-mart for 30 dollars. I am mama on budget so 30 dollars was pretty much my budget for bed my child will probably one use for 2, maybe 3 years. Well Wal-mart had their cheapest for double the price. Gritting my teeth for the moment, an idea popped in my head to buy from Craigslist! Surely there would be an unloved toddler bed that someone wanted out of their space. I could probably get one for even cheaper than 30 dollars. And I was right as well as wrong. Most beds under 30 were either pink or in the other state. If it wasn't those two, these toddler bed were priced at 100 dollars or more. (I don't care if the frame is from Pottery Barn. It is a toddler bed! )

Then my artistic and crafting brain starting turning. A quick visit to Pinterest, measuring, a few design tweaks and I was off to Lowes to purchase all I needed.

Behold my toddler for under 30 dollars. :)  Now all it needs a coat of paint, but for now the sanded edge, clean look will do.

 

It actually not to difficult to assemble and very sturdy. :)

It is kiddie approved and ready to use. Here is the design I followed from Pinterest. I did a few tweaks, but this was the basic idea. This blogger did an awesome job and thank her for instructions. Here's was around 40 dollars to make, but I assume the price can vary depending on how much you have to purchase yourself. Also here is a tip. Just have Lowes or Home Depot cut your wood to the sizes you need. Much easier and time saving than doing it yourself.

Instruction for Toddler Bed.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Simple-Stylish-Toddler-Bed-for-Under-40/step1/null/

Enjoy :)