(Personal Photo)
No matter what branch of service…thank you!
From now until December 24th, anyone who joins Rue-la-la using the link below will receive a $10 Credit to their account to spend as they choose. Want to know what’s better than that?? It’s FREE to join, and that $10 credit is your gift just for checking out the la-la. I joined last year during a similar promotion and that $10 ended up making my Vera Bradley travel purse $12!
It’s simple: use this link to join Rue-la-la, and you should see your credit appear on your account in 48 hours.
http://www.ruelala.com/invite/craftysmurf
I LOVE colorful clothing, which makes me wonder if I’m the last person to find out about the UK company Boden who now ships to the good ole USA? I mean just look at a couple of the things I’m currently dreaming of….
Just a heads-up that I’ll be MIA for the next few days while much transpires at our little mushroom house. We are about to embark on having our house’s exterior repainted as well as some much-needed trim replacement. This means it will be loud and out of control around here for a few days but I promise to return on Monday with fun tales and crafty goodness!
And since no post should be without a photo…how about one from last Christmas. It was literally the first photo I took with my new DSLR…allow me to introduce you to the cutest dog in the world.
Check out that little pink lip…doesn’t she just make you want to hug her? :)
Have a fall-tastic weekend!!
I’m sure many of you are already on the Rue La La band wagon….but if not today might be the day to check it out. It’s a membership based site, but membership is free (you can use my link below to sign-up). And sign-up you should because on Thursday the Vera Bradley shop will open up! The last time they had Vera Bradley you could have picked up a new baby bag for $39.00!! OR pick up bags for your bridesmaids for $29.00! I know I managed to sneak in a little bit of Christmas shopping for my work gift exchange and my god-daughter!
Here is a membership invitation if you need one: http://www.ruelala.com/invite/craftysmurf
A while back I mentioned a stack of vintage Christmas postcards I found while cleaning out at my grandmother’s house. With Christmas approaching I’m trying to think of a way to include some of them in our decorations.
So…my question is: How would you suggest using these fun vintage postcards?
(photo credit: Climie+Co)
Yesterday I clicked unsubscribe.
To several wedding blogs I’d been following…and it felt kinda nice. It’s been 4 months since the wedding and while I promise I’ll finish up the posts on all of our wedding DIY projects, I have to admit it feels nice to start stepping away from the mass amounts of wedding planning p0rn out there.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved our wedding. Looking back there really isn’t anything big I’d change (other than a few guest list additions since we had the space), but sometimes when looking through all this wedding ideas/photos I “wish” we’d included this or that and it makes me sad. Which is dumb if you reread the sentence above….I loved our wedding. It was perfectly “us”. It was small, simple, clean lines, natural beauty and we felt loved all day. So really…it was perfect and how do you improve on that?
So…I’m slowly clearing out the majority of the bridal blogs in my reader and plan to replace them with non-baby related newlywed blogs. And crafty blogs of course. I think I’ll even try to redo the look of this blog a bit, I think it’s time for Brainy & Smurfette to change out of their wedding finery and find some hiking clothes! 
So, talk to me….what newlywed & crafty blogs can I not live without?
Check out rue-la-la tomorrow for great deals on Keen Shoes & Accessories. We LOVE Keen’s for all sorts of activities in our household, and I think you would too. In the fall I live in Keen’s canvas sneakers for trips to pick out pumpkins and to pick apples! I found my current faves at TJMaxx for $25…and I’m hoping to pick up some water shoes for next summer’s adventures during the Rue-la-la event! So check it out….
Not a member? No worries, use this link to join for free:
http://www.ruelala.com/invite/craftysmurf
*Note: I am in no way compensated for this post, it is based purely on personal opinion.
While Halloween typically isn’t a big holiday in the Smurfy household, this year will be a little bit different. We’ve been recruited by a family member to help out at their historic district home since they have over 200 kids visit, and to bring any decorations we might have. Since we didn’t have decorations other than some orange string lights (from football season), I decided to try to whip a few up. I think these little guys turned out quite well, and really like that I can use them again!
Supplies Needed:
- paper lanterns
- battery operated tea lights (1 or 2 per lantern)
- black construction paper
- glue stick
- double sided tape or white glue
Tools Needed:
- Scissors
- Computer & printer
- Template of choice
- Template for pumpkin faces: http://www.dltk-holidays.com/Halloween/mpatterns.htm
- Template for ghost outline: MS Word Clipart
Pumpkin Lanterns:
- Print out your jack-o-lantern template, careful to trim around as much as possible.
- Fold construction paper in half so you can cut two faces at once.
- Use a washable glue stick in a few places on the back of the template to help hold it in place while you cut.
- Carefully cut out your face with a craft knife and carefully separate the pieces from the template. (Hint: Save the cut-out templates and left over black paper and use this for carving your real jack-o-lanterns!)
- Using double sided tape or white school glue attach your face to the assembled lantern.
- Add battery operated tea lights. I usually drop the tea lights in a sandwich bag and just drop them into the lantern. The sandwich bag keeps it from falling out the bottom. If you want them brighter you can always use 2 tea lights per lantern.
- Hang and enjoy!!
Ghost Lanterns:
- Print out your ghost template, careful to trim around as much as possible.
- Fold construction paper in half so you can cut two faces at once. In this case since I wanted to cut out three, I added an additional piece in the middle of the stack.
- Use a washable glue stick in a few places on the back of the template to help hold it in place while you cut.
- Carefully cut out your jack-o-lantern face with a craft knife and carefully separate the pieces from the template.
- Using double sided tape or white school glue attach your face to the assembled lantern.
- Add battery operated tea lights. I usually drop the tea lights in a sandwich bag and just drop them into the lantern. The sandwich bag keeps it from falling out the bottom. If you want them brighter you can always use 2 tea lights per lantern.
- Hang and enjoy!!
Reuse Information:
The great thing about using double-sided tape is that I am able to simply pop the cutouts off the lantern when we take them down (carefully as to not rip the paper lantern itself). This means I can take the lanterns apart and store them to use again next year or use the plain orange & white lanterns for another party.
Cost Breakdown:
We already had most of the tools necessary for this quick Halloween decoration, so I just needed to pick up a couple of supplies. I only made two stops, Michael’s where I had a 20% entire purchase coupon and the local dollar store, Dollar Tree. If you don’t already have construction paper and glue you can easily pick those up at the Dollar Tree as well. I refer to my local dollar store as my “small craft store”.
- White Lanterns: $1.00 each with 40% total purchase coupon at Michael’s
- Orange Lanterns: $1.50 each minus 40% fall decor sale at Michael’s
- Battery Operated Tea Lights: $1.00 for package of 2 at Dollar Tree
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Total for 6 Lanterns (including tax): $8.02 or $1.33 each
Yesterday was a yucky day. We all have them from time to time, and yesterday was like a proverbial Monday in my world. Everything in the cosmos seemed to align in just the perfect way so that I spent the entire day “putting out fires” at work. I hate those days, because once they are over (at a much later hour than is reasonable) I look back and feel like I haven’t accomplished a thing from my lengthy “to-do” list. Granted I found out that a medical issue that kicked in during the stress of wedding planning and a really stressful job situation at the same time is looking MUCH better. I think that says alot for my mental status as well…either I’ve learned to cope via a more healthy process or the meds are doing their job. Either way I feel better and that is a huge plus in my world.
Wait, where was I? So, yeah long, yucky day in my world. I left the office at 7 PM and headed towards the grocery store since it was my night to cook. I was tired, grumpy, and annoyed that I still needed to get groceries, go home and change, put in a little gym time, and cook dinner all before I could shower and call it a night. Really annoyed! I stomped around the Publix like a spoiled 3-year old who wasn’t getting her way. I put in my order at the fish counter, gathered my other items, and picked up my really heavy fish package then headed to the 10 items of less lane. At least I was next in line and wouldn’t have to wait 15 minutes to get the rest of my night going…or so I thought. I realized that I was in line behind an elderly gentleman with a cart full of groceries. Um…10 items or less lane….hello?!? So I stood there, annoyed as he slowly put one item at a time on the belt. I tried to “practice patience” but I could feel it building up in me, and then something funny happened. I noticed him, the elderly man. He had those eyes that smiled, as he finished unloading his cart and waited for his wife to drive around in her electric chair to unload the last few items. They laughed and giggled about how she was always adding last minute items to the cart, and as the cashier mouthed the silent words “I’m so sorry” to me, it hit me that it really didn’t matter. I wondered how many little moments that Brainy and I miss by hurrying all the time. Here was this older couple still clearly in love enjoying grocery shopping of all things. 15 minutes later I checked out with my 2lbs (instead of the 1lb I asked for) of salmon, limes, and granola bars, and ended up walking out of the store with the elderly lady and her electric chair, and offered her a spot under my umbrella since they were parked near my car. She said thank you, and joked that I could sit in her basket and she’d wheel me right to the car. Then with a little giggle she asked me if I knew why she let the “boys” go ahead of her with the cart & groceries? I shook my head and she giggled again as she pointed out what a “cute tushy” her husband had. I laughed all the way home, and smiled the rest of the night even each time I thought about her. I hope when Brainy and I are in their stage of life I’m still checking out his “cute tushy”.
Have you ever been reminded on a bad day that the little things are still smile worthy? If so, please share!!
