Gettin' my organizer Nerd on!

i LOVE to organize!  

no seriously, i do!! i've often thought (semi-seriously) about starting an organizing business.  i'm not a huge fan of maintaining it, but i like to dig through and sort.  so last night i had an attack of the organizers...

i'm one of those girls that when i get interested in something i feel the need to have it ALL.  shocking, i know.

 when i started crocheting a couple years ago, i started collecting patterns. 

i had to have them all!!

  i get 

source: Crochet Today

 i'm part of www.ravelry.com , i've bought patterns from etsy, i download them from red heart and, if you follow me on http://pinterest.com/chinamommy/, you know i pin patterns there too.  yes, i am aware i have a problem.  

 needless to say i have too many patterns in too many places.  last night, thunder struck and i gathered ALL my patterns and a 3 ring binder full of clear sleeves:

i started tearing magazines apart, knowing i would NEVER in a billion years make everything in there.  honestly, i felt a little guilty "ruining" my magazines... oh-my-gosh...what is WRONG with me? tell me i'm not alone!!

so this is my project to finish today!!  i'll also be making dividers so i can keep separate: hats, scarves, home items, cute items...etc.

are you a crazy organizer? or just a crazy hoarder?  are you trying to get things in order for 2012?

Big super duper Giant crepe paper DIY flowers!!

aren't those pretty!?  HOP on over here to see how to make your very own!!

Running Club

i've had this on my mind for over a year, does that mean i'm suppose to do it? me thinks so!

  i want to start a running club! 

i love to run, but not alone.  anyone that watches as much true life crime as i do couldn't possibly be comfortable running alone, even when one is armed with their pink can of pepper spray!

plus i look cra-cra talking to myself and i just bore myself to death!

source

i want a running club that is:  full of other chicks that want to run, and a club full of girls that don't mind listening to my chatter for 3-10 miles!  i ran with 3 chickies this morning, i told them my idea and... they were kinda excited!  one of them even suggested we get together after my VACATION (Ooooooo, Soooooo excited about this one, more on that later, i promise!!) and brainstorm!   we definitely need a name for our group, but we are nice girls  so no names like "skanky sneaker sluts"! but what else goes with sneaker...??? swanky...!?!  if you have any ideas, leave it in the comments!!! 

So there is my idea, now i just have to act on it!

Subway art, it's DONE!

i can honestly say i am probably more thrilled with how this DIY subway art project turned out than any other DIY i've done!

i found a canvas that fit the saying i wanted to paint, i painted the canvas turquoise, cut out contact paper letters with my cricut, stuck them on, painted black over all of it, let it dried, peeled the letters, stamped some stars, and hung that baby up!

 (yes that ID in the top corner is my TV turned to my favorite channel, full of those crime shows i'm addicted to!)

 i used an old credit card to spread the paint, i actually did 2 different colors of turquoise and left it a little splotchy.

 i was so inspired after this project i did a couple small paintings.  as i was doing the subway art above, i realized that i would never be able to put these in my shop (chinamommy ) due to the cost of labor alone...it took a long time to stick all those letters on that canvas people!

so, instead of words, i did birds!

yep, i stuck a bird on it!

turquoise and brown

 and another in turquoise and black

 shabby cottage style all ready to hang! both will be in my shop soon!

chinamommy

if you try the subway art, leave a link in the comments so we can check it out!  if you have any questions, let me know and i'll try to answer it!

~happy tuesday~

Hey Foxy Lady!

did you know madonna has a clothes line? no, not a rope in her backyard with a bunch of runway outfits hanging off dollar store clothespins!  a clothing line of clothes for us po' people that can never wear what she wears when she tells her staff to take out the trash!  i'm at Macy's the other day when i see a sweater with a fox around the neck 

and i say to myself "what would Clinton and Stacy say?"

source

i have no idea what they would say, but i said SOLD!

 and it kinda matches the bright highlights in my hair!

i think the sweater looks pretty stinkin cute with these shoes

cute? yes! comfortable? no!

i think the devil had a hand in the manufacturing of these little flats!

have you bought anything cute lately?

or weird?

ibegged, igot, ilove

my iphone!  honestly, i have no idea why the mister made me wait so long and if he would have realized how happy it made me, i like to think he would have: got up in the middle of the night on black friday to stand in line in sleet with waist high snow, wearing nothing but boxer shorts to bring me such joy! and yes, i do own a rhinestone crown!  blackberry, you are dead to me, i shall never speak of you again even if you were pink.  my new iphone is white and pure and clean, except for the makeup smudge on the edge of the case where my face hits, but mr. clean magic eraser is a friend of mine!

please enjoy

yes, this is a stock photo because i live in michigan where there is NO sun right now and my pictures are worse than usual.  yes, this is the exact case that my phone is sporting because

1. it is pink

2. verizon had this one and stupid ones and i didn't want to wait.

this is like having another child and so she shall have more than 1 outfit and unlike my first child (which happens to be a REAL child) she shall be fancy and non argumentative when i dress her up like the fancy girl she is!

if you are also an iphone ifreak, i am going to need to know your imust have iapps

discuss....

so far i have:

instagram

etsy

camera+

histamatic

redlaser

facebook

aroundme

closet (be still my freaking heart!!)

target (duh!)

mars hill

i'm trying not to go all icrazy and buy every app that looks cool because i know me and i know i always think i must have it ALLLLLLL and then i use very, very little. oh look who just might be confronting (and beating) her mild hoarding tendencies!!

xoxo

Holy Macaroni!

the last several days are a BLUR! we have a trip coming up and darling needed an american passport. i should have sent for one as soon as she came home from china, but i didn't because i am the queen of procrastination, especially if there is paperwork involved.  so anyway, getting an american passport for a child adopted from china is not super easy and you may, or may not, get a variety of information from the "help" line.  you might spend a lot of time downtown, needing cash to get paperwork, paying for parking, and running to 2 different buildings in the rain to get paperwork that you possibly won't need in the end.  yippeee, for super fun days like that!! then add in an unplanned snow day, a planned day off school, a day of skiing, a day of trying to figure out certain charges on your paypal account which includes having forgotten and resetting a variety of passwords and that would be me the last several days!  but.... i did start that project i found on pinterest, the subway art sign with this saying:

i took a large canvas and pretended to do some math on it so i knew how big to cut my letters. i made sure to get a canvas that was rectangle like the original sign since i wanted it to read the same.

 i painted the background a couple colors of turquoise but now wish i would have made this the top color, trust me, it is WAY too late to turn back!  i found one tip on getting the paint on a large canvas- use an old (unwanted) debit/credit card! i just squeezed a bunch of paint on the canvas and then smeared back and fourth with the card, soooooooooo much faster than the foam brush i was using.

 i am still in the process of sticking my contact paper letters down, this is the hard part! i started with the first word on the left, then the last word in the line on the right and worked into the middle. does that make sense?  i found it a bit easier to know how much space you were going to have in the middle rather than get to the end and have no room.  this is trial and error and is a bit tedious but i am nearing the finish line and it's looking so cute i can't wait to finish it!

if you want to know the details: i used a canvas that is 24"X36".  i drew the lines with a charcoal pencil and spaced them 2" apart.  the letters are made with contact paper and cut with my cricut using the alphalicious cartridge.  

xoxo

Subway art...

subway art is ALL over pinterest so today.... i'm gonna make some.  i saw this saying years ago and just loved it:

(found on pinterest where they pinned it from ponder about )

so today, instead of sitting my bootie at the computer and dreaming of things i want to make, i'm going down to my studio and do it!

what are you working on today?

i'll show you how far i got tomorrow plus some good finds i've found :)

have a great day

xoxo

Pinterest DIY's

have you found the pinterest crack yet?  i have and i'm willing to admit i have a problem.  i like to log on while darling is getting ready for school, i like to check after i get her on the bus, throughout the day and then again before bed.  good Lord, i don't want to miss anything fabulous!  don't call dr. phil yet, i'm still bathing, using the toilet IN the bathroom, running, feeding my family, crocheting and shopping for cute outfits, it hasn't ALL gone downhill around here...yet!  today, i'm going to share some really cute DIY's i've found there.  if you can ever get off pinterest to make them, that would be awesome!

1. distressed photo canvas

how-to link HERE

2. DIY Photo Pendants

how-to link HERE

3. Mason jar candles

how-to link HERE

**i'm going to give you a little bonus info that i also learned on pinterest: instead of buying wax, melt down your old candles in jars, you know, the one where the wick is gone but chunks of wax are left.  Pour layers of scents that go together and use up that usable candle wax!**

4.  Bleach pen t-shirts

how-to link HERE

5. Paint chip garland

(don't call me if home depot kicks you out!)

how-to link HERE

7. Crepe paper rosettes

how-to link HERE

8.  Subway art

how-to link HERE

(look for ALL  kinds of saying that fit your home on.... pinterest, where else?!)

9. Open weave beanie (crochet)

pattern link HERE

10.  t-shirt rosette ring

how-to link HERE

i hope i've listed something you might like to try, but even more than that, i hope i've helped you decide to come along with me and waste even MORE time online!! 

you

are

welcome!

if you need a pinterest invite, email me at: chinamommy_04@yahoo.com

you can find me there under the name:

chinamommy S

have a great weekend!

Welcome 2012, chinamommy is back at it!

1st off, do NOT start your new year by trying to print postage online, seriously, do NOT!  why does it have to be so hard? why do i now have to get dressed and drive into town before i freak out and lose my mind?  i am 3 days into this year and already i am feeling a level of frustration that i try to avoid at all costs. 

instead i'm going to recap my life starting in august... is that when i abandoned my poor blog?  no, no... wait, i do remember sharing with you the fact that i got felt up by a baby at thanksgiving, so let's not go all the way back to august!

my kiddo had a Christmas concert, 

(mine is the little Asian cutie in the beautiful black and blue dress.  guess who never even thought of looking for a RED Christmas dress? me and the mother's of those boys.)

i sold a ton of initial ornaments, i was so busy this year i didn't even start my Christmas shopping until the last 2 weeks...  almost every order was a special order, i sold only 1 pre-painted letter!

i started teaching darling (at her request) how to crochet (squeal!!)

(NO, i did NOT pick out that outfit!!)

i went to Christmas parties with the mister,

i got fuchsia highlights in my hair, painted my nails with kardashian glitter polish, and spent december waiting for a bird to fly out of a nest i found in our (real) Christmas tree.  i pinned like crazy (pinterest people!), went to the library with darling, slept in, hung out with my kiddo, ran and just plain RELAXED.  i spent Christmas day with my family and truly had one of the most wonderful Christmas days in years!  ok, last year was pretty hard to top, being at Disney and all, but... this year was a pretty great day.

it was a great break from it all and now i'm ready to get back at it!!  let's talk more, shall we?

did you have a good Christmas? or was it full of crazy family drama?  did you get anything fabulous (like MY white range rover?) or anything just horrible?

do tell....

xoxo