Guess what...

So we got a new mattress!  Hooray!  Our old one was...well...old.  Did you know that mattresses have a date printed on them.  {Alright.  Hurry up.  I know everyone is running from their computer to go check the date on their mattress.}  Well mine almost made it to it's birthday.  Almost.  2/24/1994. 

1994 people.  My mattress was 17 years old.  No wonder my backs started to hurt.

So this beauty was delivered the other day.

It's a Paula Deen Lady Bird mattress. And it's oh so comfy.

I've been referring to our bed as Paula.  And Andy has informed me that it's creepy.  "Oh gosh Paula is so comfy."  "I could lay on Paula forever."  Yea.  Ok.  I get how it's kind of creepy.  But seriously.  I love this thing.  Now.  If I didn't have to wait another 3 weeks for our bed to be delivered!!!!

But guess what else I got yesterday.

Andy came home with this fantastic present for me.

Yup!!! A Nikon D3100.  I'm in LOVE. He was out doing stuff.  And taking forever so I called him. 

 me: "What are you doing?"

him: "I'm walking around the mall."

me: "Whhhat?  You hate the mall."

him: "I'm looking for something."

me: "For 5 hours?  What are you looking for?"

him: "A new wallet."

me: "I just tried buying you a  wallet and you told me yours was fine."

So I'm curious right.  So I call the bank.  Find out there was a big old purchase at H.H.Gregg.  And I say OH MY GOSH. 

Bank guy:  Is there a problem.  Ma'am do you need me to put a stop on your card? 

Me: (Squealing by the way...) HE BOUGHT ME A CAMERA!!!!!

Bank guy: You called us to find out what your Valentine's Day gift was?

Me: Yup.

Bank guy:  Your good.

:)  You bet!

I'm off to play with my new toy for a while.  Lots of buttons.  Lots of buttons.

Sponsor Love ... Thread This Fabric

I love fabric.  Like really love it. And I love  the gals over at Thread This Fabric.  They are just so sweet!  Plus they get your order cut and in the mail right away! Which is always good because when you order fabrics as pretty as these you just can't wait to get it!! 

I just bought this Riley Blake White Retro Umbrellas and Riley Blake White Raintdrop Stripe. 

And this Hooty hoot kangaroo Owl Roll call in cream  and Blue Mini Dots by Riley Blake.

OR this Quite Contrary White and Red Cheery Dots set by Riley Blake.  {Can you tell I love Riley Blake? lol}

Well, let's be honest.  Really I'd take 1 of everything! :) But I couldn't decide so they are going to surprise me.  And I'm sure I'll run over and buy the others!  Because their prices are really great.  AND my favorite part?  I love how they pair the fabrics up together!  {You can also get just the individual fabrics} But for me, I always go out and buy the prints...get home want to make something and realize I didn't get anything to match it with! 

So go head over to Thread This Fabric - tell Britney and Amanda I said hi!  They're super sweet gals!  {And soon - they are getting Michael Miller fabrics too! Woo Hoo!}

WINNER!

The winner is .... Brittanie! 

"Ive never seen those before! I am always folding pages.. So bad! Im a follwer :) "

Email me with your info and I'll get it into the mail for you!

{amandablogs(at)yahoo(dot)com}

Our new mattress is being delievered this morning and then hopefully I can get some pictures of some things I've been wanting to show you all!  Talk soon!!

An overdue 100 follower giveaway!

I said I'd do a 100 follower giveaway.  And then I had the blanket drive party.  And then the Blogger of the month party.  And so here we are..finally doing the giveaway. 

Do you read Saturday Mornings?  It's a way cute blog.  Dana also has an etsy shop where she makes super cute book thongs.

And she was nice enough to send me one to give to you!

I just love that color blue!

And you can't have a book thong without a book!  So I'm also including a $10 gift certificate to Barnes and Noble!

Want to win?

Just follow - leave a comment.  Saying whatever. 

I'll pick a winner on Friday!

Make sure to leave your email address for me!

Guest Post : Dressing Heidi Sage

I can't believe we are starting month 2 of blanket tutorials!! WOW! The gals from Dressing Heidi Sage are just adorable.  It's a whole family event - - which I love.  And wait til you see their little blanket.  I love the pocket.  Well...can I even call it a pocket?  It's the cutest pocket ever.  Read on!  You'll see!  Thanks gals for sharing!! :)

Hey, this is Courtney from Dressing Heidi Sage.  We're a blog of all things cute for kids.  With my kids as inspiration, Deborah (my mom), Chelsea (my sister) and I, find ourselves busy crafting for and with kids...while all being hundreds of miles apart.  This particular tutorial is for a blanket Deborah made for Heidi Sage.  Not only is it adorable and cozy, it's also a blanket any skill level can make!  We hope you find the tutorial easy to follow and we would love to see you make one for Gabe's Gift.  As you read through the tutorial, remember this could very easily be changed into a blanket for a boy or even gender neutral.  It's all in the details.  So without further ado, I'll hand it over to Deborah...


Heidi Sage has already started to pre-school, and her school requires a blanket for nap time. I received a phone call from her mother this summer with an order for one blanket with Heidi Sage's name, dimensions of the blanket needed to be 3 foot by 4 foot, and it should be double sided for warmth....oh, and she wanted it red to match her school bag and bedroom. (Her mother is only slightly particular!)


So, I started thinking of different ways to make Heidi Sage's blanket. I decided it would need some flowers to make sure it was girly and later in the project I decided to add a purse and high heel to make sure it was REALLY girly. The purse was also to serve a purpose, but I'll get to that in a bit.


I used fleece for the blanket and also for the appliques. Little ones tend to love how soft and cozy fleece is. I first made some simple paper flower patterns and cut my flowers from different colors of fleece.

All the appliques were sewed on by hand. I used embroidery thread to sew on my appliques. I used the six strand thread and divided it into three strands. I used a blanket stitch for attaching each of the appliques. I sewed on the flower centers first before attaching the flowers to the blanket.  Click here for a quick video on how to do a blanket stitch!

I monogrammed Heidi Sage's name in one corner and added some flowers around her name. If you don't have a monogramming machine and you want it personalized, you can always just leave space and then take it to a local sewing store, boutique, or other shop that has a machine. Make sure to shop around. You can find people who will do it out of their house for as cheap as $5/piece...and others who are really proud of their ability to push buttons and center things!

On the opposite corner I decided to add THE purse. Our Heidi Sage doesn't go more than five minutes without a pacie in her mouth, and she sure never takes a nap without one. So, in order to make sure she always had one for nap time, the blanket was made to hold extra pacies. And I added a shoe just for fun. A girl can never have to many shoes in our family! I found a simple purse pattern online and attached the flap onto the purse so it could open and close.

After all the appliques were finished I added the back piece of fabric and used the sewing machine to sew the two pieces together.

Courtney has reported the blanket gets softer and cozier with every washing!

NOTE: This could also easily be for a boy just by finding some simple dinosaur or truck patterns. The possibilities are many....the cuteness is endless!


Stay warm!

--
The Girls at Dressing Heidi Sage
dressingheidisage.blogspot.com

Come look!

Look!  I'm pretty! :)

XOXO

So my fantastic blog designer is working on my new blog design as we speak because.  Well.  This one is embarrassing. But not for much longer!  And I can't wait for you to see!!!

But first.

Ok. 

Ignore...

Ignore the bad lighting. 

Ignore the fact that the bottom picture isn't framed yet. 

Don't ignore...

Josh's fabulous art work

My XOXOXO sign!

It started out with this...

Ugly huh.  Remember this?  I had big plans for this.  So many infact.  I wasn't sure what to do.  Do I write Welcome and hang it above the door?  Hang it vertically and make a weekly menu board?  A growth chart?  A blessing board?  Then I was going to put some Mario art work in it and hang it in Josh's room.  Then...the glass broke.

I'm so glad I chose not to throw away the frame!  Once I slid the burlap in it was nice and snug.  I just painted on some x's and o's and it was done.  Best part?  After Valentine's Day I'm going to take the burlap out.  Replace it with some new 'lap.  And paint something Irish-y on it.  And then something for Easter.  And a flag.  Something for Halloween.  And Turkey Day.  And Christmas.  And New Years!  WOO HOO! :) And for the "off season" I'll probably just write SMITHS on it.  Nice and simple.  Fold up the burlap and store it away.  I love it.