I love fall

School started this week, which can only mean one thing: Fall is on its way!

I love fall!

I love the light jacket weather, the falling leaves, the cool nights, wearing scarfs, drinking hot chocolate...and I LOVE Halloween.

Right about this time every year, my mind starts racing with possibilities of how to dress up Thing 1 and Thing 2 that will make them even cuter than they are everyday (if that is possible, right?!).

For their first Halloween, they were, what else...Thing 1 and Thing 2.

For their second Halloween, they were Bert & Ernie.

For their third, they were rock stars.

And last Halloween, they were train engineers (complete with their very own ride in Thomas the tank engine).

What will they be this year?  Hmmm....  the possibilities are endless!

They like firetrucks.  And dogs.  Maybe I can make them a fireman and dalmatian.

They love acting like animals.  Maybe I could make them a puppy and a kitten.

They are really in to space and astronauts.  Maybe I could make them an astronaut and an alien.

But then again... a lot can change in two months, and by then, the boys may have all new favorite things!  So unlike last year, I resolve not to begin buying costume parts off of ebay in August!  (Although, those purchases will come in handy if the boys do decide to be firemen this year!)

Patience never was my strong suit.

40 B4 40: Build Something

For the past year, I've been wanting a craft table, but nothing I ever found was just perfect (read: big enough). Then, about a month ago, I ran across a blog that had plans for a simple saw horse table, and I knew I'd found not only my table, but an opportunity to check #37 Build Something off my 40 Things I Want to Do Before I Turn 40 list.

First, I built the saw horse "legs" for the table.  And stained them black.

Thing 1 helping Superman cut my boards

Wood filler done and sanded

Saw horses done

Then, I found an old door and stained it black.

The saw horses really work!

Then....  TA-DA!

I can't wait to have this covered with a craft project!

This is literally a huge improvement over my old craft table!

Too tiny!

I can't wait to build something else!

My Etsy store

I finally opened an Etsy store (as part of my 40 Before 40 goals).

I chose the shop name Do-It-Myself as a play on the popular term Do-It-Yourself.  Because the types of crafts I'll be selling are the types of things mosts women (or men) would make themselves for family and friends if they had the time, money, or talent (although I didn't include that last part in the shop description!).

My first listing is the superhero capes that I've been making for Thing 1 and Thing 2's friends.  I can tell you from experience that these make great birthday presents.  What kid wouldn't love their own personalize superhero cape?

Fingers crossed!

I like to plan ahead...

Superman actually enjoys last minute shopping.  He gets a thrill out of going to the store and having to find "the perfect gift" in five minutes flat.  Unfortunately, more often than not it is the leftover gift...the gifts that no one else wanted.  Which is why I like to plan ahead.  If my gift is a fail, it is rarely for lack of trying.

Which is why Mother's Day has just passed, and I'm already thinking of the next holiday...Father's Day. On Mother's Day, I got my mom a "4 Reasons I Love Being a Grandma" shirt from PersonalizationMall.com, and for just $3 extra I was able to add a personalized card which I thought was a really cute and unique touch.

So, for Father's Day, I decided to head on over to another of my favorite websites, Shutterfly.com to order up a few personalized cards for Superman and the grandpas.  Right now, you get 20% off of all cards, plus free shipping on orders over $30.

I was able to fill up the cart with a bunch of things I needed printed and a few other upcoming gift necessities to get my free shipping.  (I have an unnatural need to never pay for shipping!)

The trick is you have to order these far enough ahead of time that you can wait the 7-10 days delivery time for the free shipping items.

Check out the card I made for Grandpa Train.  It maybe the only picture of him and Grandma Train with all of their grandkids.  I think he is going to LOVE it!

And, if you make a project and share it in your blog (like I have here), you'll get a code for $10 off your next purchase.

I can do that

"I can do that".  This is something I hear myself saying often.  Variations include: "That'd be easy to do myself." or "I could make that," usually followed by a modifier of "for much cheaper" or "better".

The problem is, where I am quick to say that I can make that cool thing, I often don't.  Time, motivation, the real world...something tends to intervene between inertia and kinetic energy.

Recently, my "I can do that" moment came in the boys' preschool class.  Their teacher had recently purchased some capes from an etsy website and all of the kids were going ga-ga over them, including Thing1 and Thing2.  The teacher quickly put the capes on her Christmas list asking for more, and I was aghast at the $24 price tag.  So, I said "I can do that!  I can MAKE those capes much cheaper."

Like most of my well intentioned projects, Christmas came and went, and I did not in fact make the capes.

However, I did not abandon my idea.  I merely shelved it for a while.

A week or so ago, I was at Hobby Lobby, aka Heaven on Earth, and discovered that the material used to make the capes is only $2.99 a yard.  So, I grabbed a few yards in a variety of colors and added them to my cart.  (I always go in for "just one thing.")

And this past weekend, I did it!  I made two capes for Thing1 and Thing2!  And, they look pretty rad if I do say so myself!  In fact, I've already had multiple people ask me to make capes for their kids too!

So far, I've already made two more, to donate to a fundraiser auction this weekend.  Which by the way, is a great cause...

Scrapbooking

Today is January 12, 2011.  That means Thing1 and Thing2 are 3 years and 7 months and 1 day old.  And I am proud and ashamed to say that I am up to April (10 months!) of their baby scrapbooks!

I'm ashamed because they are 3 years old and I just this year started their baby books.  However, I'm proud because just a few months ago I hadn't even started and now I'm almost done!

It took me so long to get started because a) time (hello, I am a mom of two and work full time), b) money (printing all the photos, buying the necessary scrapbooking supplies, it all adds up quickly), and c) place.  Before, we bought our house in June 2009, I didn't have "a room of one's own" for my crafts.  It is so important to have the right space.  For organizing, which makes working MUCH easier.  But also for protecting.  All scrapbookers know that you really have to spread out when working, which means that it's hard to only scrapbook for an hour if you have to spend 15 minutes getting it all out and then 15 minutes clearing it all up every time.  And when you have young kids, you have to clean it up.  Leaving out trimmers and scissors and adhesives is a giant no-no!

But this last summer, I took one of the bedrooms in our new house and transformed it into my ultimate craft room.  Meanwhile, I slowly started ordering pictures.  100 at a time.  Two of each print.  Until I had everything, from birth to the boys' first birthday parties (all three of them!).  And then I started scrapping.

Having twins, I couldn't just do one scrapbook, I had to do one for each.  (I am doing these instead of the fill-in-the-blank baby books.)  So, for every page I make, I have to actually make two versions, one Thing1-centric and one Thing2-centric.

Now, the question is.  Once I finish with the album and start on the pictures from their 2nd year, do I make one or two?  Part of me thinks I should just make one and call it a "Family Album."

Superman said that if I make one, I have to make two.  I said that they could just split up the family albums when I die.  The same way my siblings and I would have to when our parents pass.  But he thinks that it would be unfair to expect them to split them up that way.  But I think what are the odds the boys would even care about having tons of scrapbooks when they get older anyway?  Isn't the most important thing that first year baby book?

Hmm...need to think more on it.