enJoy Photography & Photo Editing

My latest photo shoot with my sister-in-law was a few months ago but I realized that I haven't posted the results in this blog so that's what I'm doing today. I'm also sharing a shoot I had with her a little while before that. These were all actually taken in this cool little cover she has in her front yard. She's so awesome to take pictures of, I really "enJoy" it.

So first is the most recent shoot of my sister-in-law, my favorite I've done of her so far. Then second is a little mini shoot I did with my daughter back during the summer, then the last grouping of pictures is the very first photo shoot I did with, once again, my beautiful sister-in-law.

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*All pictures were taken and edited by myself.

The Night Before Cmas

I write this silly little poem last night, sort of my own version of Twas the Night Before Christmas and I forgot to post it on here before I went to bed on the actual night before Cmas. It's just something silly, nothing real formal or anything, but for my first poem I think it's pretty good. It sort of tells about the true meaning of Cmas. Anyway, Merry Cmas to Everyone! I hope you all have a fabulous holiday :)

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Twas the night before Christmas and all thru the house,

only the parents were stirring, and maybe the basement mouse.

The stockings weren't hung by the chimney w/ care,

but placed under the tree that was certainly not bare.

The children were nestled and snug in their beds,

while visions of laptops and ipods danced in their heads.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

daddy sprang from his bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the front door he flew like flash,

tore open the screen door, ready to bash.

Freezing his tush off in the new fallen snow,

he stood there to make sure we were safe from any foe.

When what to his tired eyes should appear?

another pair of smaller feet in the snow, oh dear!

With a little girl standing there in the cold snow so thick,

he rushed her inside so she wouldn't get sick.

More rapid than eagles her questions they came,

and then speaking quietly he called her gently by name.

"Now Brenidee, my darling, my sweet little girl,

the mysteries of Christmas you very much want to unfurl.

From the bottom of your toes to the top of your head,

i'm sorry, but you must get back to bed!"

As those big brown eyes with curiosity did spy,

daddy could not hide this for he did not tell lies.

So she put on her cutest face and she knew,

she'd get the answers she wanted, and maybe more too.

And in daddy's kind eyes she saw that he'd do,

just about anything for her happiness and her little heart flew.

As he stared into those big brown eyes on her face,

she said "daddy, please tell me the secret of Santa's place."

And then at that moment he discovered her knack

of getting the truth out of everyone in their family pack.

So he told his sweet little daughter that

"Santa lives in our hearts, not under that big red hat.

A long time ago he gave toys to those in need

on the wonderful day we call Christmas Eve.

We celebrate this amazing day each year

for another reason as well. Will you hear?"

"Oh yes daddy, please tell me why,

for I know there's something more important." She said with a sigh.

We celebrate Christmas each year because

there was an amazing person born on this day, there was!

His name was Jesus, you know lots about him,

and he gave up his life to save ours, tho that sounds kind of grim.

He could see the worry plain in her eyes,

so he said in a soft voice, "Now don't you cry.

For Jesus loves us and this is his day,

He wouldn't want you to cry, but to be happy and play.

But no playing right now for you must go back to bed,

so you won't be too tired, don't worry that little head.

Tomorrow will be fun, I can't wait to see your face,

As you open your presents, in the present opening race!"

And then what he heard so high pitched and so clear,

"As long as you don't forget daddy, what is most important and near.

Our family is what Christmas is really about, Jesus knows that

and on his Birthday, if we love one another, he'll be happy as a cat."

Suddenly she sprang to her feet, to her daddy gave a wink,

then ran off to her room before daddy could even think.

But he thought out loud as she ran out of sight,

"I'm lucky to have her, what a wonderful night."

Christmas Fun

My husband has an Aunt named Cherish who is one creative mama! She is an awesome cook and craft maker!

Every year at their Grandparent's Christmas party she always makes these fun little Gingerbread houses for the kids to decorate. They're made out of graham crackers and she makes the frosting herself, it's so much fun. I took some pictures of these little Gingerbread houses, including the one Cherish decorated and the undecorated ones that she made for her kiddos. Since my blog is all about creative mothers I thought I'd share this with you all. Enjoy!

P.S. She told me all she uses for the frosting that keeps the houses together is egg whites and powdered sugar. So simple right?

^ undecorated houses Cherish made for all the kiddos ^

^ This is Cherish's House ^

^ This is a house my 4 yr old daughter decorated ^

^ I did this one for my baby so she wouldn't be jealous of her sister ^

enJoy Photography & Photo Editing

I am a pathological picture taker. I love taking pictures of EVERYTHING. Some day I would really like to have a free lance photography business and call myself a "professional" but that day is not today. For now I just take pictures of things I see and of all my family, immediate and extended.

On my other blog (click here to view) I have some more posts of my photography if you'd like to check those out, but I just remembered some pictures I took at the lake this past summer that I'd like to share with you. Most of these are of my adorable little niece. She's so photogenic.

These first two pictures are a before and after. The top is obviously the "before" I edited out some facial blips (kids get dirty no matter what! lol) and enhanced the color. The second picture is the after. See the difference? (If not try clicking on the pictures and see if they'll get bigger. I can only make them so big on here :P )

And these others are just some that I took and played around with. The blonde in my favorite picture of them looking at each other is my daughter.

Isn't she a doll?

Anyway, I just wanted to share these. Don't forget to check out some of my other work on my mom blog. And you can follow me too :)

Cute Easy Piggy Bank

So my hubby finished off the mayo today and left the empty jar sitting on the counter and when I saw it I thought, "that would make the perfect size piggy bank for my girls." So I washed it out really well w/ soap and water (twice to make sure the smell was gone) and peeled the wrapper off. Here's what I did to make the easiest, cutest, little piggy bank for my girls.

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You will need:

a large plastic jar of some sort (I used a Best Foods Mayo Jar)

A couple sheets of paper w/ a background printed on them

Some fun sheets of letters for their names

Scissors and thick clear tape

(I just went on google and searched pictures of backgrounds and pictures of scrap book lettering and stuff like that and then printed it out. It was really easy to find. I chose black and white for my back ground and red for my letters)

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So first you want to cut your background paper down to size. It need to fit on the flat part of your container.

Then cut out the letters of your children's names.

Using your clear tape, tape the back ground on. The reason I said you'd need two sheets is because one is not enough to go all the way around.

So go ahead and tape the back ground on. Looking good right? Your kids are going to love what you've done!

Next comes the lettering. Just set the letters out on your work space and put the tape directly on top of it like this. You may need to cut the tape down to size depending on how big your letters are.

After you're done taping all your letters on you're going to (very carefully!) cut a rectangular hole in the center of your lid using a knife, razor blade, kitchen seers, ect. Like I said, Be Careful!!!

Then put your kiddos change in and your all done! Now isn't that cute? And it was super easy! Hope you enjoyed it :)

‎.❤♫❤♫❤.•*¨`*•..¸♥☼♥ ¸.•*¨`*•.♫❤♫❤♫❤.
╔═════════ ೋღ❤ღೋ ═════════╗
ೋ ❤❤❤~~HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!~~❤❤❤ ೋ
╚═════════ ೋღ❤ღೋ ═════════╝
...❤♫❤♫❤.•*¨`*•..¸♥☼♥ ¸.•*¨`*•.♫❤♫❤♫❤

newest shirt reconstruction project

Hello All!! This is my newest tshirt reconstruction project, and it turned out pretty good. I took step by step pictures on the weave and hopefully I can explain them so you'll get the idea of how to do it. I used a suzy q tee from walmart that I already had in my closet, size medium. This took me about half an hour. Difficulty level..... medium also???

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here's the shirt before I started. There is minimal cutting in this tutorial, but lots of weaving.

line up the side hem like pictured above so you can make your front slits.

make three inch long snips just under the top hem as shown. Don't forget to stretch the strands!!

put your shirt back the right way. then about 1/2 inch to 1 inch apart make 1&1/2 inch cuts up the entire length of the shirt starting right above the bottom hem and ending just below the bottom of the sleeve hem.

do the same thing on both sides.

place your shirt on the back of a chair or its really easy if you have a top half mannequin to put it on. it stretches the fabric just a little bit so its easier to weave.

starting at the very top (my pic is from the middle, sorry!) hold the strand out as pictured above.

then hold the strand out that is directly below the one you're already holding out....

pull the bottom strap ^ through the top one...

and let go of the one that was on top. continue the same way, and you're weaving! see how simple that is?

tie it w/ some ribbon when you get to the bottom two straps.

here's the ^ finished front

here's the ^ finished back

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I made the back edgy like that on purpose, I think It looks fun :)

I hope you enjoyed that and it was easy to understand! I had fun doing it and making this tutorial for you. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and (depending on wether or not I have time to post something else on this one of my three blogs in the next month or so) a Happy December Holiday!

Ugly Winter Toes? I think not!

So everyone gets "winter toes" during the cold months of the year where we know we'll be keeping them hidden beneath our socks/slippers. Everyone is checking out your cute new boots, no one cares about our toes right?

What about those days when you feel like taking a bath w/ your man? Sure, he's not looking at your toes, but you are thinking "man I should have gotten a pedicure for this! how embarrassing!" And what about your yoga/pilates days at the gym when you're not wearing shoes or socks, and your toenails are chipped and your skin is malnourished.....

Well Guess what? I have the perfect home remedy that you only have to do once every couple of weeks to keep your feet looking summer ready at a moment's notice. It's so easy anyone can do it! No artistic ability is needed, and no money, just use what you already have around the house.

For this you're going to need:

1/2 cup of your favorite body cream/lotion

small mixing bowl w/ lid

1/4 cup white sugar (i keep it around for this purpose only!)

(or if you have an exfoliating body scrub that will work too!)

some plastic wrap and a toothpick

nail polish remover/nail clippers

Warm water and a wash cloth

3 nail polishes: base color, flower color, and clear top coat

(I chose black and pink w/ some gold... I was feeling sassy lol)

So first remove all your old chipped polish and clip your toenails so after you wrap your feet so can be all ready to get started w/ the decorating. Also, push your cuticles back with your thumb nail, makes a better painting surface.

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Then, in your mixing bowl mix together your body cream and sugar to make your own exfoliating sugar scrub to remove dead skin. (the reason you need the lid is so you can save the rest for later if you have any left over.) If you have sugar scrub you can skip this step.

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Glob the sugar scrub on your feet one at a time and rub it around to exfoliate, sort of like you're giving yourself a foot massage. Make sure you have plenty on there!! Then wrap your feet individually with plastic wrap and leave it on for about 10-15 minutes.

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Remove the plastic wrap and throw it away then rinse both feet in warm water. You can wipe any excess scrub off with the wash cloth. Make sure there is none left around your toenails. And you're don'e with the first half of your make shift pedicure! On to the decorating!!

So, as pictured above you start w/ just your basic coat (2 bottom coats actually) just a regular paint job. Pardon my ugly feet....

Then put 5 dots w/ your second flower color on one side with as little space as possible in between them. (lots of space in between mine, I'm still practicing and have yet to perfect my technique) Then while the dots are still wet take your toothpick and with one end pull from the middle of the dots toward the center of your flower. Once your flower is dry add your clear top coat and you're done!!

Sorry for the blurry picture, but it should look something like this when you're done. I just put gold on top of my toothpick drag marks and as a french tip for fun, those are optional. Just trying something new :)

Think of all the color possibilities and how much you'll be able to keep the same easy look, but change it up all the time! Light on dark, dark on light, there are soo many to choose from!!

Hope you enjoyed this!! It's just so fun and easy. Maybe I'll post some more pictures in a while once I've gotten better at it. And even tho it doesn't look great on me I still wanted to share it just because it's fun to look pretty and be a fancy girl sometimes, even in the winter time. Not to mention, who doesn't love a good pedicure every few weeks. Even if you have to do it yourself :)