My Homemade Christmas Gift!!

This year I worked on a bunch of homemade Christmas gift and this was one of my favorite!! Ashley (my SIL) got her parents (my in laws) this beautiful picture hanging wall sign with pictures of Cadon Ryan and Paiton and since then she has added a new little man so I decided to make her one but with all the kids and added extra just in case any other little lurcook/lockes decide to join in on the party ;) hahaha (NOT FROM US) just so we are clear!! but they could even put pictures up of the whole family. First I used a giant cabinet door then I hand painted for days to get it just right after that I placed vinyl saying on border of the frame and varnished the crap out of it after that I used E3000 and glued the metal clips to it I just LOVE the way the metal clips looked and they are sturdy and snug on there...a helpful hint to using that wood glue is that it needs at LEAST 24 hours to set and when you are laying it to dry you must lay flat or it will run but after your done with that get some pictures printed I really thought the black and white look amazing then your done!

The Artist and The MAD SCIENTIST

Today I spent every second of my day cleaning I have not even sat down but to write this post and the kids and I played with so much by the end of the day a nice bubble bath sounded good so we rushed upstairs and got out their bath sets they got for Christmas Cadon got a science bath set and Ryan got an art set with paint!!!

One of my favorite gifts

This year Spencer (my brother in law) picked my name for the person he had to get a Christmas gift for and in seven years this is one of my fav. gifts and it was just the card that made my heart grow!!! It says: A Sister in law is there when you need a helping hand, understands when the family acts a little crazy, and makes a real difference in so many ways...thanks for being you. Then he wrote Merry Christmas Thanks for everything and always being there with a smile! Love, Spencer He had no help or hints on what I wanted instead he did it himself and picked out this card for me I will keep it forever and it is little things like this that fill my heart with happiness and he also got me a Jamba juice gift card and a hobby lobby gift card ( I am a craft addict ) so just the choice of the place he chose to get me a gift card to means he really knows me well and I have never been to Jamba Juice so I am so excited to try it!!

Cadon and his new skateboard

I will be updating my blog as soon as I can figure out how to get my blog to download pics faster but I am going to skip ahead and today we took Cadon out on his brand new Skateboard he got from santa and all his gear he got from Nana and Papa Lurcook!! he was so excited but it is really hard to learn when its so cold and the road is slick from ice.

Tooth Fairy Pillow

I have worked on five things today!! at least sewing projects I even got a little help from my little helpers they were so eager to do anything they can to help mommy since I was making them cool pants and tooth fairy pillows....Here are the tooth fairy pillows I made I realize I only have one pictured here but I made another for my youngest and it has an R on the back. I love how they came out and I love the feeling of the flannel now I am off to cook dinner clean the house and finish three other big projects I made this year for my niece's and nephew. I am so excited for Christmas we really went all out for our whole family here and I can not wait to see their faces our whole Christmas tree is filled already I think Santa might have trouble finding a spot for the kids gifts ;)

matching pj's

Well here they are my latest work of art and I am proud to say I made my own patterns and used wrapping paper so i could keep them for a bit I am so excited how they came out and I think I have been sewing a little under a week and I have already made pants WOAH I think maybe I will need a sewing machine but for now I will stick to my Mother In Laws machine because they are expensive and well my MIL machine works really well!!!

Christmas Pj Pants

Last night Ryan went to the store with me and he was SOOOO EXCITED because he saw DINOS YAY and when I looked and saw the flannel was on sale for 2 dollars without a coupon I grabbed it and bought the whole roll which was not a lot because it was almost gone but I am making my kids matching Christmas Pj's this year and here is my first one RYANS!!!! They are SO soft and I can't wait to take pics of them in my first pants sewed EVER!

I am very thankful

For those very close to us know all our deepest darkest struggles and triumph and for that WE are very thankful. I have been far from family and friends for three years and since family is so important to me i struggle through the holidays being away from my parents and brothers and sisters oh and niece....but my husbands parents are two people we are truly thankful to have in our lives they would drop anything to help they offer the most unjudgemental advice and treat our babies like little kings haha it makes us very very happy our kids have you guys as their grandparents .And my parents back home are such kind generous people alive they are such amazing parents/grandparents and have been there for us through all of our ups and downs I just want to say thanks to everyone who are in our lives who never try and change us and treat us with respect and offer help wether needed or not you guys are amazing and we very much appreciate every thing you do/are and that's it for this post be thankful for the people you have. In your life We are thankful for my in laws my parents my sisters and brothers Love each other and be grateful for what you have

FOR MY NEPHEW QUINN

I am constantly thinking about other people and it is like my mind goes into crazy craft mode when I think about my nephew Quinn he is so dang cute and I have have have to post a pic of this AMAZING onesie I MADE YES ME for him I had to draw a guitar then cut it out then trace it to the fabric and cut that out then put it onto the onesie I will be adding his last name to it or maybe his first name so I am off to do that! what do you think....TO STINKING CUTE RIGHT?

MASK FOR MY HEROES

SUPERHEROES

Two days ago my mother in law came over to my house to bring her sewing machine because we have been talking about making some things for a while and I didnt know how to sew yet so she took a few hours of her day teaching me the basics and she set everything up and then pretty much handed it over and said you can do it and I DID!! I think I did AMAZING for my first time sewing a project myself and today I made SUPERHERO CAPES for my little boys I saw a few pics online but you had to buy a pattern and I just decided to make a pattern myself since I can sketch really really well I measured them then designed and this is what I came up with!! My kids have been running around ALL day being heroes and pretending to save all their stuffed animals so now I am off to sew some masks

Cookies

Here are some pics of what we have been up to............a whole lot of baking especially the hubby and the boys they have so so so much fun cooking with daddy!! I will not be posting any crafts till next year because most of my crafts are gifts and i cant give any hints and I have a really bad computer so my pictures take hours to upload =( I will post again soon looks like Cadon will be loosing his two front teeth hahaha just in time for Christmas YAY

A VERY BAD BLOGGER

I have been a VERY bad blogger and most of it is due to the fact my kids have been sick for the past month and before that I had strep so I have pretty much been stuck inside cleaning like a maniac and praying we are all going to be healthy one day. Last night my oldest got sick with the flu and is now in diapers again it is SO weird but I really hope no one else gets it I have been cleaning EVERYTHING and today I decided to get out of the house for just a moment and finally get my hair cut. I usually cut it short for winter and then go dark so here is step one in my transformation!! I cut it the shortest yet!

Don't mind the lack of makeup and bags under my eyes I was asleep for 2 hours before I had to give my sick boy a bath and help him get back to sleep which was very hard but hey I LOVE MY KIDS WITH ALL MY HEART AND SOUL and when I get nice and old I will help them remember the time when mommy cared for him when he was sick and put diapers on him hahaha and see if they will do the same ;) jk. Thats all for now I will do some craft one day when I get the time but for now I am enjoying my little family!

Cinnamon Roll Cake

This recipe was from Pintrest and from Life as a Lofthouse

Cake: 3 c. flour 1/4 tsp.salt 1 c. sugar 4 tsp. baking powder 1 1/2 c. milk 2 eggs 2 tsp. vanilla 1/2 c. butter, melted Topping: 1 c. butter, softened 1 c. brown sugar 2 Tbsp. flour 1 Tbsp. cinnamon Mix everything together except for the butter. Slowly stir in the melted butter and pour into a greased 9x13 pan. For the topping, mix all the ingredients together until well combined. Drop evenly over the batter and swirl with a knife. Bake at 350 for 28-32 minutes. Glaze: 2 c. powdered sugar 5 Tbsp. milk 1 tsp. vanilla While warm drizzle the glaze over the cake. I thought I would pass this on to all my family and friends because it looks so YUMMY and pretty easy to make

Crochet Flower

I have been obsessed with the crochet flower ear warmers forever and they are so expensive at craft shows so I NEVER buy one even though they are SO CUTE!! I was ready to learn to crochet when I found out my husbands Aunt Lisa was a PRO at it and was willing to teach me the basics. She showed me how to chain and sl st but I went home confused and gave up. I have had this burst of motivation to try it again and I had forgotten everything Lisa had taught me but I went on youtube for a crochet flower once I found the one I liked I watched the video OVER AND OVER AND OVER this was my first EVER attempt at crocheting and IT CAME OUT PERFECT I made three (3 Strand Flower Headbands) a rose and an ear warmer on the first try!!! I was so excited to finish something and to go from clueless to oh I know all the terms and getting things done I am really proud of myself!! Here is the three strand flower headband I made and I even sewed a button to one end and instead of the ugly tie and tuck I can just button it up and it has no hanging strings and it is very comfy!!!

Kindergarten Pic

For those family and friends living very far away I wanted you to see Cadon in his first school picture EVER!!!!!!!! I LOVE IT SO MUCH AND WILL HAVE PICS SENT OUT SOON!!

Birthday Girl!

I have to remember that I made this blog for family and friends and today I would like to make a post just for my niece Kylina Vivian she is so beautiful and it really hurts that I can not be there to celebrate her and everytime I speak with her she tells me she misses me and her cousins. Life happens and no matter what the situation take advantage of the little moments spent with friends and family because you never know where life will take you and I would LOVE to hop on a plane and see her pretty face. So for now there is Skype and that will do. HAPPY BIRTHDAY KY TITI CARISSA,CADON,RYAN AND, UNCLE B LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Eternity Knot Necklace By Carissa Lurcook

I have been LOVING necklaces with knots and it seems to be really "IN" at the moment. I decided that tonight I was going to take an hour and sit down and create myself a beautiful whimsy Eternity Knot Necklace and I did not get the Idea from online or see a picture I made this MYSELF and HAND WRAPPED THE BEADS AND KNOTS I ALSO MADE MY OWN JUMP RINGS.....this WHOLE necklace was created by me and I really need to start selling them because we could use any money we can get but the problem is how to get traffic and a way to have people make the purchase online. I want to sell my stuff and if you would like to buy please email me at clurcook985@yahoo.com.

Eternity Leaf Necklace

I have not posted any fun crafts in a while because I am a mommy first and a blogger second. I am very very very excited to share this tutorial with all of my readers who ever that might be ;) I was looking on Pintrest and there was this necklace that I thought was SO SIMPLE yet ELEGANT and BEAUTIFUL!!! It was called the Eternity Leaf Necklace and it was sold on Esty but I guess it is no longer for sale so I used my oh so creative noggin and made it MYSELF and with things I already had. This is the necklace I was inspired by:

AND THIS IS WHAT I MADE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now for the tutorial that will blow your mind... Materials needed: 1.A Notebook 2.Wire Cutters 3. Round Nose Pliers 4.Computer Paper and Pen I did not have wire thick enough for the necklace so I went to my craft closet and BAM there it was a notebook and the rings were perfect so all I did was twist the wire out. After I took it out I used a piece of paper and just by looking drew the design so I could sit on my craft table (dinning table) and go to work. I used the round nose pliers to bend the wire and used the end of the wire cutters to make the perfect loops then used my round nose pliers to fix it into the shape I wanted. And that's all you need is a little inspiration and creativity and you have yourself a beautiful piece of jewelry!

Coffee Filter Wreath

I am a full time mom so I have to apologize for the lack of posts and crafts but with the holidays coming up I am working on things for my family and I can not post them or they will know what they are getting =) so for now I am posting up the picture of a FINISHED coffee filter wreath....I love the texture and it is so easy to make.

Wreath Craft

I am really into wreaths right now and the materials are so expensive so here is my cheap way to make a beautiful wreath with glue,dollar store wreath that I taped and, coffee filters! all you do is fold coffee filter in half then again and glue to the wreath. I am not done with this one but I had to post up to show how beautiful it looks so for.