For the LOVE of Groupon

Groupon.Com = Awesome Savings.... No matter where you live Groupon.com will become your new favorite website for local savings. They customize your daily savings according to where you live so you will be sent (via email) awesome local deals.





Check them out at

http://www.groupon.com/r/uu3511718

Handmade Burp Clothes

I recently made a few handmade Burp clothes for a baby shower I was attending. I got the idea a few years back from my friend Melissa who made them and they sold very well in my store. It is a wonderful way to dress-up those boring old cloth diapers that many moms use as burp clothes. I think they turned out great and the Mom-to-B loved them.

Baby Bubbles

For the Love of the Game

Adorable Dots & Stripes

Ride'em Cowboy

Decopaging Tin Buckets - Great Storage Idea

I recently go in touch with my crafty DIY side and made some decoupage tin buckets for a baby shower gift for my friend Gena. They really turned out nice and I am sure they will look adorable in baby Necose's nursery. Decoupage is the art of decorating an object by gluing colored paper cutouts or material onto it in combination with special paint effects, gold leaf and so on. It is a fun way to decorate and brighten up items just lying around your home. Here I will share the steps to make this wonderful decoupage project.

Decoupage 

Supply List:

• Item to be decoupaged.  You can decoupage pictures to almost anything: furniture, photo albums, shelves, frames, cardboard boxes, vases, mirrors, hard cover books, trays, suitcases, metal tins, plastics, dishes, candles, cans, bottles,  and much more.
•  Fabric to fit size of item to be decoupaged or you can use items such as cut out pictures, motifs, or shapes from wrapping paper, wallpaper, fabric, napkins, greeting cards, post cards, photographs, handbills,  garden seed packages, pages from old books, foil covered paper, paper doilies, ribbon, posters, dried flowers, tissue paper, and more.
• Popsicle Stick - You can use this to help smooth out wrinkles and removed excess glue. 
• Foam Brush - This is used to spread glue onto the item you will decoupage. If you don't have a foam brush, you can use an ordinary paint brush.
• Scissors - Used to cut out the pictures and other items you will be decoupaging. 
• Tweezers - Tweezers work great when it comes to positioning small pictures.
•  Damp Rag - Keep one nearby to wipe up excess glue and to help with other clean up.
  
• Decoupage Medium such as Mod Podge which works best or you can use white school glue diluted slightly with water.  
• Ribbon, buttons, etc to decorate
• Optional:  Folk Art Acrylic Sealer (clear Coat)

1. Start out by making sure the item you will decoupage is clean and dry.
2. Cut out the pictures you are going to decoupage. or cut fabric to the size of item.
   
3. Arrange the fabric onto the item you are decoupaging before you add glue.
4. Working in a small section at a time, apply a generous layer of decoupage medium onto the item you are decoupaging. Make sure you completely cover any area the fabric picture will touch.
5. Stick the fabric on the decoupage medium. Use your fingers to gently push down the fabric and push out any wrinkles and excess decoupage medium. You can  use a popsicle stick or your hand do this.
6. Continue with the last 2 steps until all your fabric is glued on. Let the decoupage medium dry.
7. Once your item is dry, coat your item completely with decoupage medium. Let this dry. 
8.  Now, you can continue to add coats of the decoupage medium until you get the desired results. I added 3 thick coats.
9.  Let your decoupage craft dry completely and then spray with acrylic sealer....  You you can embellish with ribbon, buttons, etc.  Hot glue items onto item to ensure a proper fit......  it is now ready to use, display, or be given away as a gift.

Decoupage Tin Buckets - Great for Nursery to store books, blankets, toiletries, Etc.

Big Brother is Home

The house was recently buzzing as our eldest son came home with his girlfriend Jeanie for a visit.   Pito came home and surprised the kids.  We haven't seen him since last summer when we took a trip to New York.   It was such a wonderful visit and we all had the time to spend some quality time together. 

Many of my readers are probably curious and didn't know we had another son besides Matthew.  Well, Pito came into our lives back in 1997 when he was almost 14 years old.  I worked as a Caseworker at Pius XII foster care and adoption agency for almost 10 years and resigned upon the birth of my daughter Taryn in 1996.  Soon after, I was contacted by the agency to see if my hubby and I wanted to be foster parents for 2 teenagers who had recently come into care.  Without much hesitation we decided we would open our home up to Pito and his sister Jackie as well as several other young people who needed our help and our love.  

Jackie was 16 and Pito was about to turn 14 when they came to our home.  They both fell into the routine of the Smith home and quickly became members of our family.  Jackie became a single mother at an early age and left our home to attend college.  Pito remained in our home for another 3 years and left to attend Job Corp in the state of Maine. He graduated high school and left upstate NY to live in New York City where he continues to live today.  Jackie gave birth to a beautiful little girl Alexis in May of 1998 and now is attending graduate school in Chicago, Ill.  Pito is currently employed at a drug treatment center in NY as a drug treatment counselor.  We are so proud of both Pito and Jackie.  

Having them as a part of our lives has been such a amazing, challenging.... but mostly,  rewarding experience.  Being a foster parent has taught me that I have so much of myself to give to others.  They have taught me to love unconditionally. They were victims of hard circumstances, yet they keep loving and holding out hope for the best. We gave them our best as well as  love and direction and commitment that they yearned for.  Love is not always enough, but when you add unlimited patience and a sense of humor, you can usually get through. 

I had a wonderful conversation with Pito while he was here, a Mom to Son conversation which was amazing and extremely heartfelt.  We talked about life in general and about his plans for the future and it amazed me to see this young man standing in front of me with thoughts, hope and dreams and a vision to reach his goals.  He thanked me for being a wonderful Mom to him and thanked me and my hubby for believing in him and for being such an influential part of his life.  All of those years of dedication, devotion, and unconditional love really paid off when he thanked us for helping him become the man he is today. 

I am one proud Mom and I am happy to call him, My Son!

 

Matthew Taryn and Pito - Days gone by.

This is an awesome family picture.  One for framing for sure.

 

The Golden Hues of Autumn

WELCOME AUTUMN!!!

Before we know it the frost will be in the pumpkin and those steamy Carolina summer days will be but a memory.  I have always loved when the fall would come and bring along those cool crisp nights and those breezy but sunny days that quickly lead up to those cold and snowy winter days of the Northeast. 

I loved to watch the transition of summer to fall when I lived in New York.  Beauty would be in abundance.  Mount Beacon along the Hudson River and as far as the eye could see would glisten with golden and reddish hues that screamed winter was on the way.  The colors that sprawled across the mountains were an artists perfect palette of amazing and breathtaking colors.  

The smell of fall is such a memorable one as the cool air and gentle breeze would swirl around the aroma of crisp leaves, lavish apple trees, burning fires and home-cooked meals.  I spent many days as a child sitting in the apple trees in my grandparents orchard witnessing the beauty of God's creations transform into yet another stage of grandeur.  Home-made apple pie and simmering meatballs and sauce always filled the air.... and I would sit and watch.  I remember sitting there and it seemed like forever and I would wait for the last leaves to fall and giggle at the Weeping Willow Tree dancing in the Garden. 

Life was so simply back them and I try every year to sit back and look at the world around me as if I was seeing it through the eyes of my own children.  I try to instill in them the importance of taking time to smell the daisies or take time to dance freely in the grass or to watch the falling leaves.  Life quickly passes by and I think it is so important to once in a while stop and enjoy the simple things in life.  

The following Pictures were taking last October in Milton New York

at a family farm (Trapani Farms)  

It is a beautiful and breathtaking place.