A thankful heart...and a huge THANK YOU!!!

I can't begin to express how overwhelmed i am at the outpouring of love for little children you don't even know.  this is the 2nd year i've organized this hat drive and i have no words (which is RARE, so enjoy it!) for how fulfilling this is for me.  i can't believe the generous giving and the generous making of hats, upon hats upon hats (and even wash cloths this year!).  this is VERY picture heavy...VERY! there was no way i could leave anyone out, so enjoy!

 OH MY GOSH!!!!! Can you believe it?

and this doesn't include all the cash donations!  to each and every one of you that was kind enough to donate money, thank you!!!  i've still got to get that all added up too!

to all the gals at ravelry, my mom, and friends:  

a HUGE HUGE HUGE 

"thank you!!"

photo of Darlings costume will have to wait... i don't even have time to type what all i MUST accomplish today, including a flight to Washington, DC!!!!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Hand painted wallpaper adventure!

let me start with the fact that i have done NOTHING for days... Ok, i've got Darling on and off the bus and i have used the bathroom but other than that a big fat NOTHIN'!  i haven't even had any coffee because i have no 1/2 and 1/2 and i'm too lazy to go to the store!! yesterday i was feeling like such a slug that i pulled a ladder inside and got started on a PURE CRAZY project: hand painted wallpaper!  

Source: jonesdesigncompany

the picture above is from the lady who is kind enough to show you how to do this AND give you a free template.  she did all 4 walls of her office with double lines...i'm just doing a single line because i know myself and myself is a slacker!

So, here's what i've got going on...

you do NOT even want to know how long that took me!  i'm only doing the wall behind our bed-there is NO WAY i could do all our walls and it would be too much!  i'm going to use silver paint to paint the design, i think it will be nice with this lamp

(next up: i need to revamp the little side table i got from my gram)

so, needless to say, i will be spending many hours on my nice green ladder.... it's one of those projects you can't just leave, it's a little obvious and it's too late to turn back now!

**don't forget: the countdown for the baby hat drive is coming FAST**

see all the information in the tab above or just hit the donate button at the top- every $1 helps!

Digital Scrapbooking and hats for kids.

It's Sunday and I have the whole house to myself until late this evening.  So far I have:

• torn out what was left of the landscaping on 1 side of the house and by "landscaping" I mean the 2 huge chunks of hostas that were left after we tore the rest of the crap out 2 summers ago.
• drug 1 huge hunk of hosta to the front of our drive-way and planted them along the edge of the tree line, left the other off to the side for the Mister to deal with tomorrow.
• replanted the side yard with a butterfly bush, black eyes Susans and this other pretty pinkish thing.
• showered
• put on a ridiculous outfit
• ribbon danced around my yard until the neighbors complained

source

Ok, enough of that craziness... What I really wanted to tell you about was:

1. The hat drive

AND

2. The Memories Suite 2 Giveaway that will be posted on Tuesday.

All information about the hat drive is located under the hat drive tab above.  There is also a donate button if you'd rather help that way.  Every single penny goes to the drive, whether to buy yarn or to ship.  This is the 2nd year I've done this and I'm really hoping this will be another great year for the kids!  Please let me know if you have ANY questions at all!!

The 2nd thing is something I am also REALLY EXCITED about and I'm going to give you a little teaser.  On Tuesday I'll be posting a give-away for someone to WIN: My Memories Suite 2 for FREE! (For everyone else I'll have a code that will allow you to try My Memories Suite 2 and additional embellishments for a special savings!!!!!!) I was given this software to try out and let me just tell you... I LOVE IT!  It's easy, it's quick, it's adorable AND (most importantly) even I can do it!!  This is perfect for someone that's REALLY into scrapbooking OR.... someone that wishes they had their pictures in a CUTE  album but find that scrapbooking really isn't their "thing".  If you've ever wanted to try digital scrapbooking but just didn't know where to start, this is really going to help you out!  I've already done several things and can't wait to show you!!!!!!!!!!!

So, come on back Tuesday and see what this is all about!!!!

Random Friday...

Is anyone else slacking on the whole blogging thing this summer?  I just don't want to bore you with things like this: I went to my eye Dr. today, she said I had pointy eyeballs....(true story).  We're having a great summer, it's just that something interesting isn't happening every day, ya know?  I've saved all my "good stuff" for today, so get ready!!

1. I saw 2 wild animals at Lake Michigan recently:

a gorilla

 and a zebra

2. I swear, this is NOT my fault!!  This is her own "style"...

3. I bought these for my etsy shop but fell in love after painting them...

Newly decorated wall in our home coming soon...

4. The Mister bought these for me, just cause he's awesome

5. Don't mess with:

6. A sneak peek at my porch remodel...

7. I have no idea...

anyone else find a microphone in their fridge next to the bloody Mary mix?

8. On July 21st, my Grandma turned 102, yes, you read that correctly 100 AND 2!

This picture was taken last year on her 101st.  I didn't see her this year, she lives in another state.

9. Our FAVORITE meal at our FAVORITE Japanese Steak house

Prawn shrimp with egg yolk batter (i don't know what it is, please don't ruin it for me, i LOVE it!!), grilled zuc's and onions, fried rice, scallops and a Bahama mama! 

10. I just want to make sure EVERYONE knows about the hat drive for the kids in China! Please tweet, facebook, and/or blog about this drive!!  I'm going to make the official cut-off date Oct 31, 2011.  All hats MUST be to me no later than Halloween!!  I'll take NEW hats in ANY child's size: newborn to 15 year old kids.  I'd love you to make one (or 20) but store bought is JUST FINE TOO!!!  If you'd rather make a cash donation, please go to the top of the blog and look to your left for the "Donate" button.  Honestly, even $1 will help!!

Thanks to those of you that have already donated, I can't thank you enough!!

xoxo

10 Random Things Friday...

1. Do you know of the super SWEET Lulu?  She's been a long time reader of chinamommy and was one of the 1st to ever buy something from my etsy shop!  She's adorable, talented, and sweet as pie and a teensy bit "dark"!  Make sure you stop by her blog: http://coastalsistersnews.blogspot.com/ Oh, did I mention I won her super CUTE giveaway?...

Lulu, thank you SO much!! We love them and Darling loved her "pixie dust" and gobbled that sucker right up!! We are definitely long lost sisters and need to meet up SOON at some fabulous art event- we'll wear matching stripey tights!!

2. I'm watching HSN right now, It's Martha Stewart Craft hour... I could SOOOOOO be that lady that sits around and orders crap off the TV.  Do you do that?  (Hey, there's some lady calling in from the South, is that you Angela?) I resist, the only thing I've ever bought from TV was the NutraSonic cleaner and I must say, I LOVE it!!

They've almost got me talked into buying the Martha Stewart Scoring Board!!  Ok, while typing this up, I'm trolling in another window and found it on amazon for $11 cheaper than HSN!  Yes, it's in my cart...

3. I ran all week with NO KNEE PAIN, I know you're all thrilled!! I'll be running the 10k in the River Bank run with a couple of my running pals!!! I've got to come up with my chinamommy running outfit... I've got a running skirt,  it's PINK!

4. You should see what someone left on this sweet lady's windshield this week...

Seriously?? Who does stuff like this?  Go read her post...

http://www.homebodyholly.com/

5.  I'm planning my parents 50th Wedding Anniversary!!! And by "planning" I mean, waiting till August to have a panic attack about how I should have been planning for the last 4 months!!  Feel free to pepper me with fabulous ideas....

6. I just convinced myself the Martha Stewart Scoring board has solved all my decorating problems for the 50th anniversary EXTRAVAGANZA!!!  I'd show you pictures of how, but I've spent over 30 min. trying to find some online, so look at the crappy picture below - if you squint your eyes, it makes the picture clearer....

7. I'm so excited about how my living room turned out, like "blabbering about my new baby" kind of excited... The fireplace isn't done, the trim isn't all up, new carpet is a must and, there needs to be more carni-junk but for now I'm just going to pretend it's ALL done, 'cause I LOVES IT!!! and you know... it was all about removing those dang faded red slip covers!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

(doesn't it look like those little suitcases by the fireplace are smiling at you?)

 (does someone want to come over and iron my slip covers??....)

8. It's kinda time to start thinking about my baby hat drive...See the tab at the top, you'll hear more near the end of summer (more as in: you're so sick of hearing about it you'll just send me a truckload of hats for these sweeties so I'll shut up!) but wanted to give you the heads up!

 Photo's of some of the kiddo's that got hats last year in the 1st Annual Chinamommy Baby Hat Drive.

9. Cause this is Random Friday

Here is another cool crafty blog that I found recently

http://eighteen25.blogspot.com/

Being a trophy wife is hard, sitting on the computer all day finding other cool blogs!  I could get hemorrhoids ya know! (yes, I had to spell check that one)

10. Wishing all you Mama's 

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

and if you're not a mom, well, somedays it's not all it's cracked up to be, so go out to eat and just celebrate YOU!!

If your Mama is no long with you, I am sorry and I'm thinking of you friends!!

Hope it's sunny where you are!