Where I'm at...

... just in case you were looking for me that is!  I'm over at Ginger Snap Craft's for Christmas Break this afternoon.  I'd love for you to stop on by and check out her awesome blog.


AND I'm officially declaring January 9th to the 20th Beat the Winter Blues here at Domestic Deadline!  If you've already left me a comment or sent me an email, I'll be sending you more info shortly.  If you are interested in participating, leave me a comment or send me an email at domesticdeadline@gmail.com for more info.  I'm looking for guest bloggers and give-a-way sponsors. 

I'll be sharing crafts that perk me up when the weather is cold and I'm stuck inside and some give-a-ways of my own, because winning always makes me happy.  I can't wait for you to join me!

Peace be with you,

Give the Gift of Gift Cards

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Gift Card Weekend for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Did you give or receive any gift cards for Christmas this year?  I know I did!  Isn't it great to look in your wallet and realize you have a gift card for a favorite place?  I especially love when I've forgotten I have it and then find it, it's like finding money!  The only thing better than finding a forgotten gift card is winning a free gift card!!!

Gift Card Weekend is coming up and Gilbert the Gift Card Machine is giving away more than 100 gift cards a week leading up to Gift Card Weekend (January 6th-8th, 2012).  Want a chance at winning?  Hop on over to Facebook and like Gift Card Weekend and you're entered.  Want more chances, just share with your friends, the more friends you influence to like Gift Card Weekend, the more chances you'll have at winning, it's that simple.  Check Facebook often since tons of gift cards are going to be given away between December 23rd and 31st, right now Subway $10 gift cards are up for the winning.

Now you probably want to know what exactly Gift Card Weekend is... well, it's a weekend where participating retailers have featured offers for buying and/or using gift cards from January 6th to 8th, 2012.  Want more info, check out their web page here: Gift Card Weekend

Check out this list of the awesome participants:

-JCPenny
-Regal Cinema
-Subway
-Sephora
-Applebee's
-Bass Pro Shops
-Adidas
-Buca di Beppo
-Lowe's
-Spa Finder
-Marriot
-Giant Eagle

A Slimmer me for 2012?

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Slim-Fast for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Until a few years ago, I could eat whatever I wanted and not worry about weight.  Then I hit 30...  Now, I don't stress too much about my figure, but every now and then I realize I've gone up a bit and its time to bring it back down to a weight I'm more comfortable with.  I like food, I can't help it, especially anything sweet!

Over the years, I've tried several different diets, from big name companies to online programs and everything in between.  I know the true secret to weight loss is reduced calorie intake and portion control.  It's that portion control that's a problem for me!  Put something yummy in front of me and control goes out the window.

Even with all the options out there on the market, I usually go back to Slim-Fast.  Why?  Well, it's easy.  And yummy!  If I keep the shakes in the fridge and the snacks handy, I don't have to think about it.  Sometimes thinking about what is the most nutritious option leads me to not eating, which leads me to starving and before I know it, eating everything in sight!!!

Slim-Fasts 3-2-1 plan is super easy, 3 snacks (their bars, fruit or other 100 calorie food), 2 Slim-Fast meal replacements (shake or bar) and 1 balanced meal of about 500 calories.  The best part is so much of this is portable!  I keep a box of the snack bars and meal bars in my car, just incase I'm out and need to grab something quick.  When I'm trying to get the kids out the door for school, a Slim-Fast shake is a quick and easy breakfast.

Stores nationwide (including Wal-Mart, Target, Safeway and Kroger and online at Amazon.com and the Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Store on Facebook) carry Slim-Fast and many of the snacks have chocolate in them, on them, all over them!  That right there is a huge help to my sweet tooth.  Plus, Slim-Fast's new shakes now come in a closable bottle in 5 great flavors including my favorite, Rich Chocolate Royale.

Will you be joining me in loosing a few pounds either during this holiday season or because of!?!?!  If so, hop on over to Facebook and like them:  Slim-Fast

And check out their site: Slim-Fast

From now until March they have a contest going on to win $10,00 and other great prizes.  You can enter daily, I won a $1.50 off coupon today, saving money is winning in my book!

Making a List and Checking it Twice

I don't know about you, but my to-do list for Christmas isn't even finished being made, let alone checked even once!  With that being said and the fact that my family is trying to decide between calling the Clean House or Hoarders shows... I'll be taking a short break.

BUT, I'll be back in January with some big plans and I'd love for you to participate.  I'm still working out the details but I'm planning a Beat the Winter Blues Blog Bash... January is the hardest time of year for me.  Cold, dreary days don't help my mood in any way but last year was the best winter I had in years.  I've suffered from depression since childhood and I truly believe this blog helped me get through what has historically been the worst time of year for me.  THAT calls for celebration.

SO, if you are interested in guest posting, sponsoring a give-a-way, advertising or otherwise participating in my celebration either leave me a comment on this post or email me at domesticdeadline@gmail.com.

If you miss me in the mean time, I'll be over at Gingersnap Crafts for Christmas Break and would love for you to join us.


AND, I'll leave you with a few pictures of some of the hats I just finished up... then I have to get started on the gifts I still have to make for my family!

 A fun owl, made to coordinate with a coat.

 Ladybug... I am loving how this turned out... good thing too since I had 3 orders for them!

Once a Buckeye, always a Buckeye, this is one of my personal favorites!

And don't be surprised if you see some much needed layout changes...
Peace be with you,

Visiting Bloggy Friends and a Give A Way!!!

I'm over visiting at My Favorite Finds today.  Carrie is celebrating her blog birthday with lots of guests and some great give-a-ways!  She's got a little give-a-way from me too.

So, hop on over there, check out all her great guests and enter to win some fun things, including an Avon bundle and shop credit to my etsy shop, HarperNCo.

While you're over there... I'll be making more hats... particularly more of these guys:

 

Any color recommendations?   I must say, I still get a kick out of a hat wearing a hat!  Sorry, makes me laugh every time I make one.

Peace be with you,

Real Tree Decorations

If you saw what my tree originally looked like, you'll know this is an improvement

The kids decorated it last night with real ornaments, all by themselves.  They wanted them all front and center... so me trying to explain hanging some of them deeper in the tree was like talking to a wall...

I was also proud of myself for going through the ornaments and purging ones that had no sentimental value since we have way more than we need to cover the tree.  Every year we acquire new ones from trips as souvenirs, an annual family ornament and something with each child's name and the year on it, those are the ones I want to keep.  Out went the ones that I bought from the dollar store years ago just to fill in space.

Now, I just need to do some cleaning up in other areas of my home (ahem... craft area) so I'm not writing posts like this in a few weeks when I once again declare keeping an organized home as a New Years Resolution.

I am sharing my holiday home decor and cleaning tips for the chance to win prizes from The SITS Girls and Great Cleaners.


Peace be with you,

As we wrap up Creating Christmas week I hope that you have all been inspired to stop pinning and start creating! I’m excited to see what everyone has been working on. This Christmas Linky Party is no ordinary party. This is a blog hop. And what that means is that there are 18 FABULOUS bloggers that are hosting this party at their very own blog. Whether you add your project link here or at any of the other 17 co-hosts blogs, it will show up on one huge party list! Awesome! If you haven’t already, please take the time out to visit the other co-hosts and go through their Creating Christmas posts. There is some really neat projects! The Girl Creative, Que Linda Crafts, The Cottage Market, Love Lindsey, Domestic Mischief, Chicken Scratch, Love Sweet Love, Randee’s Organized Chaos, Musings of a Glamour Puss, Anastacia Knits, Southern Scraps, Modern Yet Old Fashioned, Broken Treasures, Alyssabeth’s, Domestic Deadline, Life on Walnut Street, 52 Mantels, The Glamorous Life

The Rules are SiMpLe:

• Add a link to a project that YOU have created!
• Visit the 2 links ahead of you and check out what they’ve got going on. Leave some comment love. Tis the season for giving after all. {wink wink}
• HAVE FUN AND BE INSPIRED!!

Peace be with you,

Creating Christmas - Driftwood Tree

I'm back with one last project for Creating Christmas with The Girl Creative.  Tomorrow is the link party, are you ready?

Today is Day 6, check out Day 1, Day 2,  Day 3, Day 4 and Day 5 if you need to catch up.

I think Creating Christmas should have started a month ago, I still have so many things that are pinned that I want to make!

Today I pulled out my bag of drift wood from Linwood beach on Lake Erie this past summer.  Over the years I've had lots of ideas of things to do with drift wood, but never had any when I had the idea... and of course never remembered what I wanted to do when I had access to unlimited drift wood, isn't that the way it always is?  But, one day in July, I grabbed a few buckets and had the kids fill them up with tons of it for me and it's been in my basement ever since with this in mind:

But that just wasn't going to happen for me today.  I still want to make this, but it's just going to have to wait.  I've also pinned this pretty piece:

Source: leslieashe.blogspot.com via Emily on Pinterest

So as I sat with my drift wood, a new idea brewed, and I'm soooooooooo thrilled with the results:

It was really pretty simple.  I covered a canvas board with wrapping paper, a pretty silver and white paper but it needed a punch of red.  Sharpie to the rescue:

  

from this

to this

The girls helped me lay out the drift wood and I glued it in place, making sure to put the glue on the lowest point, ie, where it would touch the canvas.  Once it dried I had to come up with a way to hang it.  It's kind of creative, but really only has to last until my mom and dad come to visit, they are the experts at hanging artwork!  Besides which, my mom is mesmerized by duct tape, so she'll get a kick out of this:

  

Soda tab, lots of hot glue and a few layers of duct tape... necessity is the mother of invention...

A close up of the final piece:

It is hung a little high, but the hook was already on the wall... and I think my colorful forest might still grow...

If you like what you see,

I’d love for you to follow me!

Peace be with you,

 

I'll be linking up to some of these parties, stop by and check out the talent!

M: Made by you Mondays, Made with Love Monday, Making the World Cuter, MMM @ CRAFT, Just something I whipped up, Organizing Mission Monday, Creative Me Monday, A Round Tuit, Motivate me Monday, Jam Hands, Must Try Monday T: Sew Cute Tuesday, Handmade Tuesdays, Tip Me Tuesday, TCB, Topsy Turvy Tuesdays, Take-a-Look Tuesdays, Too Cute Tuesdays, Giggles Glitz & Glam W: We Did it Wednesday, Night Owl Crafting, Sugar & Spice, Tea Rose Home, We’re Organized Wednesday, What I Wore Wednesday, What’s Up Wednesday, Wow Me Wednesday, Share the Wealth, Real Momma Real Style, Your Whims Wednseday, Whatever Goes T: Make It Wear It, Frogs & Snails, It’s Stinkin’ Cute, Making it with Allie, Things I’ve Done, Everybody’s Creative Endeavor F: Fun Friday Finds, Fingerprints on the Fridge, It’s a Hodgepodge, Chic on a Shoestring, Fantastic Friday, TGIF, I’m an Organizing Junkie, Spunky Junky, The Shabby Nest, While He Was Napping, Upcycled Awesome S/S: Get Schooled Saturday, KISS, Funky Fresh, Weekend Wrap Up, Nifty Thrifty, Creative Bloggers, Six Sisters

Creating Christmas - Just a Little Something

Hi All, just popping in to show you a sample of the hair bows turned tree decor (if you can't beat them... join them).  Little man has walking pneumonia, so even though I'm stuck at home with him... I haven't been able to get some of my ideas done! 

Oh well, I've been making some hair flowers as we call them, and tried a few with Christmas fabric scraps (ironically they match my tree skirt).  I think they turned out really cute:

O-man got off my lap long enough to clip it to our Christmas tree...

I've decided not to bother with "don't touch the tree" they are all having fun with it and that's what counts.  So, hair flowers have become tree flowers... the hair clip makes it stay on the tree nicely... maybe he's got something here!

Catch up on the previous Creating Christmas posts here.  I'm hopeful to get more done tomorrow...

Peace be with you,

 

Creating Christmas - A Year in the Works Mantle

Another day of Creating Christmas with The Girl Creative!  I'm having so much fun with this, and I really hope you are too!  Have you been checking out all the other lovely co-hosts?  I hope you do, these ladies have some wonderful ideas to share.  Check them out:

Que Linda Crafts, The Cottage Market, Love Lindsey, Domestic Mischief, Chicken Scratch, Love Sweet Love, Randee’s Organized Chaos, Musings of a Glamour Puss, Anastacia Knits, Southern Scraps, Modern Yet Old Fashioned, Broken Treasures, Alyssabeth’s, Domestic Deadline, Life on Walnut Street, 52 Mantels, The Glamorous Life

Today is Day 4, check out Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3 if you need to catch up.

I decorated my "mantle" today.  We don't have a fire place but a large entertainment cabinet which has served as a mantle for us (plus a place to put things out of little hand's reach...).  I do try to change up this area with the seasons, much like one would do with a real mantle.  When I pinned this mantle 

Source: lisaleonardonline.com via Emily on Pinterest

by Lisa Leonard a few days ago, I knew it was perfect for me, after all, I'd been working on something similar for a year now.  I love the colors and while my trees might not be made from strips of fabric, I already had some made:

   

When I originally made these, I did avoid making them specific to one holiday with the intention of being able to mix and match them to use for Christmas and other holidays.  The feather one didn't hold up so well in storage, and of course I had to add a few more.  So here's my version:

I wrapped a few more trees in yarn and while I love the original version with white candle holders, I just went with some that I had on hand.  Here's a few close ups:

The red one in the back on the left (above), is made from a strand of the beaded garland, I wrapped the cone in red wrapping paper first.  I've been picking up candle sticks from the thrift store when I can get them for about a quarter.

IronFish's PhD book is a permanent riser on our mantle.  Had to point out a few things I like below:

The red petal tree is on top of an upside down pedestal bowl I picked up at the thrift store, just loved the carving.  The tree in the center, I found a few years ago at this really cute shop in our down town, Perennial Home, I just loved it and the garland is the same as the tree I covered in it.  The tree base of the tree on the far right is also from there.  Another item I just love.  Originally, it had a lamp shade on top but the lampshade was actually a candle.  When I changed the color in our living room, it didn't look right anymore and had seen better days.  So I unscrewed the top and have rotated other candles and now a tree on it.  I still love it.

Now I just need to figure out what I'm going to hang on the wall in the middle!  Any ideas?  Guess I'll be back on Pinterest soon!

  If you like what you see,

I’d love for you to follow me!

Peace be with you,

 

I'll be linking up to some of these parties, stop by and check out the talent!

M: Made by you Mondays, Made with Love Monday, Making the World Cuter, MMM @ CRAFT, Just something I whipped up, Organizing Mission Monday, Creative Me Monday, A Round Tuit, Motivate me Monday, Jam Hands, Must Try Monday T: Sew Cute Tuesday, Handmade Tuesdays, Tip Me Tuesday, TCB, Topsy Turvy Tuesdays, Take-a-Look Tuesdays, Too Cute Tuesdays, Giggles Glitz & Glam W: We Did it Wednesday, Night Owl Crafting, Sugar & Spice, Tea Rose Home, We’re Organized Wednesday, What I Wore Wednesday, What’s Up Wednesday, Wow Me Wednesday, Share the Wealth, Real Momma Real Style, Your Whims Wednseday, Whatever Goes T: Make It Wear It, Frogs & Snails, It’s Stinkin’ Cute, Making it with Allie, Things I’ve Done, Everybody’s Creative Endeavor F: Fun Friday Finds, Fingerprints on the Fridge, It’s a Hodgepodge, Chic on a Shoestring, Fantastic Friday, TGIF, I’m an Organizing Junkie, Spunky Junky, The Shabby Nest, While He Was Napping, Upcycled Awesome S/S: Get Schooled Saturday, KISS, Funky Fresh, Weekend Wrap Up, Nifty Thrifty, Creative Bloggers, Six Sisters

Creating Christmas - Mitten Pillow

Welcome to Day 3 of Creating Christmas with The Girl Creative.  Check out Day 1 and Day 2 if you missed them.

The point of Creating Christmas is to not just pin something, create something.  Like the rest of you, I've been pinning tons of things that give me inspiration and have a whole Pinterest board dedicated to all the awesome Christmas ideas that have inspired me.






One particular idea that I decided needed to be created is the mitten pillow in the back of this picture:

Source: ballarddesigns.com via Emily on Pinterest

 

The $69 price tag is a little steep for me and since mittens can go for the whole winter season, I'd rather go with my color scheme and my winter pillows that I made last year from thrift store sweaters

Originally I planned on going through my fabric scraps, but a fever left the little man in my lap yesterday and while I've sewed with him in my lap before, he just wasn't up for that... crocheting it is then!  Don't worry, I used yarn scraps.  Now, bear with me, I have never really written a crochet pattern before.  I made the first one up as I went along, wrote it down, and then tried to follow it.  Please feel free to ask any questions.

Crochet Mini Mittens:
With worsted weight yarn and an H hook, chain 12.
sc = single crochet, HDC = half double crochet, DC = double crochet
Row 1: in 2nd ch from end, DC, counts as 1st stitch.  DC to end, 11 stitches, turn
Row 2 of the thumb: ch 2, DC in next 2 DC, turn
Row 3: HDC, DC, HDC, turn
Row 4: Repeat row 3, turn
Row 5: 3 HDC, turn
Row 6: SC to the end and down around the inside of the thumb back down to Row 1 and slip stitch to connect, turn
Rows 2-5 of hand:  ch 2, DC to end, 8 stitches, turn

Row 6-7:  sc, HDC, 4 DC, HDC, sc, turn
Row 8: sc, 5 HDC, sc to end and down the hand back to the base (no real count, some DCs I did 2 stitches, some only 1, just watch that it lays flat).
Row 9-10: ch 2, DC to end, about 10 stitches, make sure it lays flat, this is the palm portion of the mitten.
Optional: add a row of fringe or an alternate color.

I love the burlap of the pinned version, but muslin was available.  Since I'm constantly stash busting and trying to use what I have and not buy something new, muslin it is!  Plus, it's softer anyways.  I'm thrilled with the result, yes, it needs a bit more stuffing, just have to find where I put it.

Plus, it looks great with my other pillows:

Now it's time to go back to Pinterest and see what else I pinned that needs to be created this week!

If you like what you see,

I’d love for you to follow me!

Peace be with you,

 

I'll be linking up to some of these parties, stop by and check out the talent!

M: Made by you Mondays, Made with Love Monday, Making the World Cuter, MMM @ CRAFT, Just something I whipped up, Organizing Mission Monday, Creative Me Monday, A Round Tuit, Motivate me Monday, Jam Hands, Must Try Monday T: Sew Cute Tuesday, Handmade Tuesdays, Tip Me Tuesday, TCB, Topsy Turvy Tuesdays, Take-a-Look Tuesdays, Too Cute Tuesdays, Giggles Glitz & Glam W: We Did it Wednesday, Night Owl Crafting, Sugar & Spice, Tea Rose Home, We’re Organized Wednesday, What I Wore Wednesday, What’s Up Wednesday, Wow Me Wednesday, Share the Wealth, Real Momma Real Style, Your Whims Wednseday, Whatever Goes T: Make It Wear It, Frogs & Snails, It’s Stinkin’ Cute, Making it with Allie, Things I’ve Done, Everybody’s Creative Endeavor F: Fun Friday Finds, Fingerprints on the Fridge, It’s a Hodgepodge, Chic on a Shoestring, Fantastic Friday, TGIF, I’m an Organizing Junkie, Spunky Junky, The Shabby Nest, While He Was Napping, Upcycled Awesome S/S: Get Schooled Saturday, KISS, Funky Fresh, Weekend Wrap Up, Nifty Thrifty, Creative Bloggers, Six Sisters