Fashionable Fridays #14

Would you like to become a sponsor for Fashionable Fridays. Check it out here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here's an outfit I wore to church. I've been dying to wear my new red belt that I bought a couple months ago. Finally I figured out a good outfit to do it with.

I'm wearing a shirt dress (it's a little too short for my liking so I wore my black skirt underneath) from Kohls. I bought like 3 years ago for like $7!!! It was the only one left and my size - lucky me!

Several people complimented me on it at church so that made me happy.

I need accessories though - a lot of my jewelery has been damaged by my little boy - any durable jewelery out there that's cute!? Plus I need some money to go shopping - some day.


Comments on Lookville - yes I decided to brave again and see what "the fashion experts" had to say...

@MichelleW: I think it looks great, though I might wear it a little lower.



@beautynut: I think this is fine. You could do a white t-shirt and still wear the red belt too. Very cute outfit all around

@PopChampagne: I think the belt it good with the outfit

@TheGorgeousGalGlamSociety: This isn't the most fashion forward outfit - the red black and white combo is a bit bleh. Try this outfit without the red accents and save them for an outfit with greys or navy.

 

Most were nice thank goodness. I agree with the last one if I had any money to shop then the red belt would look fabulous with navy.

@stelps: my opinion is: the red belt would match better with red shoes and black or white shirt. this outfit would be nice with black or white belt and black or white shirt.

@Dancingnixie: I wouldn't wear the red shirt as well. White would be fine, I love the belt!

@patriciams: I like your outfit.

What Should I Make?

I feel like sewing something! What should I sew/make? - I'm a beginner mind you. Look at my crafty goals and pick something from the list or suggest something else... http://craftymommydiva.blogspot.com/search/label/crafty%20goals

I want to make something useful and fun - something for me or something for my son...

7th Mommy Mondays

A cheap and fun little activity for the little ones for the summer! Found this idea from a reader on a local blog, Rexburg Moms.

Get some paint brushes and a bucket of water, have your kids paint the sidewalk, fence, porch, etc. It kept my toddler's attention for a good half hour!

We praciticed our shapes too - I drew different shapes for him and tried to teach him what they were. I tried to teach him his name/letters too.

Instead of painting too, he liked to fling the water!

Do you have any fun and/or learning activities perfect for toddlers? Or any good sites that has lots of ideas for toddler age?

Check out A Mommy's Blessing for her 3rd tip of Motherhood: We're not Perfect.

I know this to be true, but I think I forget it the most when I start comparing myself to other moms and how clean their house is or how they can get their cleaning and cooking done, etc. They can do it; why can't I?We're each different and have our own talents...we're learning everyday to be better and that's what should matter.

Fashionable Fridays #13

I'm linking up to One Crafty Mommy's Fashionable Fridays! Check it out! One Crafty Mommy and Fashionista on a Dime are working together to share affordable fashion! You can link up posts of your fashion, questions about fashion, etc.!

Would you like to become a sponsor for Fashionable Fridays. Check it out here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I've been neglecting Fashionable Fridays lately because I feel like I'm running out of clothes or I've been lazy with my looks again. Plus then I went on vacation. Well I'll try to do better and maybe save some money for some new clothes that I need, but as a Mom and plus being stuck in ID - not much places to shop or time to shop. I should have set aside a day to do more shopping while I was in Chicago, but we were so busy with activties: seeing family and friends, going to Lake Geneva and Six Flags, etc. I was able to help my friend shop for her trip to Florida. That was fun at least, using what I know to tell her what outfits accentuated her best features or what accessories she could by and step out of her comfort zone. I should have taken pictures!

Oh well here's an outfit I wore out to eat - Panda Express just opened near us. We haven't had Panda in a long time so it was a special occassion =D - don't laugh. lol

Found this shirt on Ross. I've been trying to find more pattern, but it's hard to find in pattern in color that I like.
The jeans I love from Old Navy - Diva Boot Cut in the dark wash I believe. Kinda pricey for me right now so I'll have to wait to buy another pair. I think it was $34... I try to spend less than $30 on jeans. That might be appalling to be so cheap to some people. I desperately need jeans though - being a mom/working with kids - you tend to get a lot more holes in your jeans - constantly on the ground, bending down, etc.

Birthday Party Ideas

• Numbers Party from Mamathon
• Yo Gabba Gabba Party from Logan's Baby Blog
• Table Cloth Weights from A Little Tipsy
• Amazing Race Party from The Budget Diet (no pics)
• Super Mario Bros. Birthday Party from the Executive Homemaker
• Wii Birthday Tournament from Poca Cosas
• Birthday Board from How Does She
• Lego Party from Roots and Wings
• Army Birthday from somewhat simple
• Elmo Birthday from Sprik Space
• Bug Birthday from Growing your Grass Greener
• Yo Gabba Gabba and Car Parties at Just for Love
• Wonder Pets from Moo Moo's and Tutus Party Designs
• Circus/Carnival Party from Kiwi at Heart (Love the Ferris Wheel "cake")
• Cat in the Hat from Katy-Di's Creations

Toddler Activities

• Bubble Art from The Lovely Paper Blog
• Arts and Crafts for 18+ months from Teaching Tiny Tots
• "I'm Bored Mom" Contatiner from Bubsies Boutique
• DLTK Educational Activities for Children
• 12-23 months Activities at Baby Center
• Chores for Children at What to Expect

Love and Date Ideas

Most ideas will be linked from

The Dating Divas


Romance Ideas

• Penny Jar on the Dating Divas
• Games for the Bedroom on the Dating Divas
• Love Notes Pad from the Dating Divas
• Advice on Being Single and Being Married from the Dating Divas
• Rein"Dear" Fun at The Dating Divas

Date Nights

• Can of Dates from The Creative Stirrings
• Inner Child Date from The Dating Divas
• Spouse Sleepover from The Dating Divas

Group Dates

• Minute to Win it Group Date from the Dating Divas
• Amazing Race-Valentines Edition at My Insanity
• Bunko and Pizza at The Dating Divas

Online Scrap Crops

Did you know that I host Online Scrap Crops at my Scrappy Gifts' Blog Frog Community: http://theblogfrog.com/935825/forum
Prizes, Challenges and Games at every one!

Here's what I accomplished this week:

A digital layout of me as a baby.
Linking it to Creative Scrapbooking Divas' Book of Me Group
and Yellow Umbrella Designs' Weekly Challenge - use brackets

A Scrappy Canvas for my new nephew. I put a metal plate on behind the yellow paper so they can use a magnet to change up the picture.

My next Online Scrap Crop is Friday, August 13 Noon MST - Tuesday, August 17th 11:59 MST
 : http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=140369069315367 OR leave e-mail address so I can send you a reminder!
RSVP HERE

Challenges, Games, and Prizes will of course be involved!

Let me know if you'd like to participate or offer prizes.
**Invite a friend and if they participate, you automatically will get a prize! Your friend just has to leave a comment saying that you invited them.**

What's an Online Scrap Crop?
Do it alone or get some of your friends together and scrap.
Work on any scrapbooking related projects anytime during the crop. Take pictures and share on my Blog Frog Forum (http://theblogfrog.com/935825/forum). Discuss anything from scrapbooking tips to latest TV shows to your kids.
Enter contests and play games - ALL ONLINE. So you can be in the comfort of your own home....

Ad Spot Giveaway Winners!

Winners were numbers 8, 3, and 17 chosen by random integer generator. I decided to have 3 winners because one of my other sponsors expired!

So congrats to...

Liz from the Menagerie and Barefoot Books

Sarah from Crafting and Creativity

and Janene whose button I will be creating.

Anyone else need help with buttons? - I'd be happy to create one for you or check out this tutorial: http://bloggingwithsuccess.net/grab-button-advertise-blog

For those who didn't win or who just missed the giveaway, I'll offer you a ad special: $15 for 3 months Special. Let me know if you're interested - Expires July 31st.

6th Mommy Mondays

LAST DAY TO ENTER MY AD SPOT GIVEAWAY FOR 2 WINNERS! - http://craftymommydiva.blogspot.com/2010/07/2-ad-spot-giveaways.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I almost forgot it was Monday! Mondays aren't as bad when you're a stay at home mom. You don't get much break on the weekends so you don't realize.

Check out Mommy Mondays at A Mommy's Blessings. She's been offering a Mommy Tip every week lately.


This week she talks about...
"Do not do it all yourself!
Being a mom has the highest demands of any job out there. It's 24/7 work and it never stops. At least until they are grown.
You have to let your children help you.
They can do so much more around the house then you give them credit for. I have such a hard time giving up my duties to them because I know I can do it faster, and I seem to forget they have two good arms and legs."
I let my 19 mo. old son help with some things. He can put the silverware in the drawer (I just have to put them in their right compartments) and he can put them in the dishwasher (I save the sharp knives for me to put in). He helps put laundry in the washing machine. He helps clean the dryer vent, put the dryer sheet in, close the door and press the button to start it.
I think I need to have my husband help more too with household chores. Yes he works 8 hrs. a day, but he makes messes at the house too.

Later she says: "Getting to the point where you are utterly exhausted, stressed, and frustrated with all that needs done is not good for you or for your children."

I haven't been out by myself in a while and I can definitely feel a difference. Because I don't get that time, I see myself slacking in all areas - it's harder to keep up with everything especially cleaning. It's hard to go out with friends though because I have to wait until my husband gets home after 8pm or they have kids too where they have to find someone to watch them. I'm hoping to have a girls' night out of the house to go see Eclipse this week though. We'll see.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
I wanted to share with you this week about getting my son into his toddler bed (his crib converts into one). He's 19 1/2 months old. I've been wanting to do this probably since he was about 15 months, but then for 2 months he wouldn't sleep through the night, we thought we'd be moving soon, then we were going on vacation....but finally we've done it especially since we see no signs of moving anytime soon (heard that moving can mess things up).
We knew he was ready because when we told him to lay down in his crib, he would. When we were on vacation, he slept on a little mattress on the floor and did great. Also he knew how to get down from things. Then ever since he's had a pillow, he doesn't roll around all over his bed anymore so less worries about him falling off.
 
He's done pretty well I think. It's not too hard to get him to stay on his bed. He knows when he's tired. When he doesn't stay on his bed, I've tried the method of taking his stuffed animals away. He has two. Then after that I take his pillow away. After that I leave and close the door. With that method - I hadn't had to take more than 1 stuffed animal away before he knew.
 

The last couple days though, he hasn't been holding his stuffed animals so I've resorted to threatening to leave. 3 chances and I really leave and close the door. I don't mind staying next to him on the floor, singing songs to him if he'll stay on his bed, but if he doesn't I'm gone. I've only had to do that once. When we went to wake him up for church, we found him on his bed not on the floor like most kids we've heard about. So that was cool.

I leave his door partially open when he is asleep so when he wakes up, he comes to our room and gets us up. He's so attached to us, being with us that I'm not worried about him getting into things. He's a good kid that way.

What tips or tricks have you learned about getting your kid out of a crib and into a bed? What ages did you do it at? How did you know your child was ready?

CSN Stores

Have you heard about CSN!? If you haven't, then where have you been....j/k. They're a fabulous online store - I should say mall because they're so huge!

They have everything from Table Lamps....

I'd love one or several these in my future play room

Sports Themed Lamps - Go Chicago!

Funky Lamp that remember me of Dr. Seuss

...to Diaper Bags...

....to Women's shoes.....

Been wanting some red shoes

...to Kids Activity Tables...

Totally want this - my toddler son is so into legos and cars right now

....to this Kids Table and Chair Set that I plan on reviewing...

2 AD Spot Giveaways!

Blogger Chix Designs has been hosting Ad Spot Giveaways for various sites and blogs. Check her out all through June and July to find other places giving away ad spots. Great way to get more exposure for your blog/site!

Now here's my AD Spot Giveway for 2 Winners!
But first, here's more info about me in case you haven't checked out my About Me section.



I made this blog to organize my "business" site: Scrappy Gifts more and make it look nicer.
Therefore, this blog is for my personal crafts, sharing cool products and awesome giveaways. Who doesn't like giveaways!?
Plus now join me for my Mommy Mondays and Fashionable Fridays. I created these to encompass all parts of my name. For Mommy Mondays, I'll share some of my joys and struggles from being a Mommy. For Fashionable Fridays, I'll share mostly what I wear in attempt to not be in plain t-shirts and jeans or pajamas everyday.

More about me: I'm Maryanne Nelson, a wife to an aspiring illustrator and a stay at home mom to a soon to be 19 month old boy.
I've been scrapbooking since the beginning of 2005, and I have grown to love it! It provides a strong creative outlet for me and makes me feel like I belong in Relief Society (a Latter-Day Saint Organization for Women). Sometimes I even dream about the perfect scrapbook layout.
Along with scrapbooking, I enjoy blogging, reading, playing games, and baking. I want to learn how to cook more, grocery shop on a budget, and sew. Plus I love learning how to do it yourself to make your home beautiful and seeing how creative people are.
I have a degree in Elementary Education from Brigham Young University-Idaho thus teaching is in my blood. I love helping people and sharing with others what I know. I would say I'm pretty savvy on what are great deals and getting savvier on blogging. I'll show my creativity and what I know here. Plus I love the thrill of winning a prize so I'll post about giveaways that I'm entering as well as do some of my own giveaways.


NOW THE GIVEAWAY!
AD SPOT DETAILS
Number of ad spots being given away: 2 spots
How long the ad spot will run for on your blog: 1 month
Size of ad spot: standard size - 125x125
Would you like to offer the winner(s) a special deal on a sponsor subscription after the free month they won (or however long you decided) is over? - $15 for 3 months Special
What kinds of blogs are not eligible to enter your giveaway? hate, obscene, porn and other such blogs that are not family friendly
Now for the entry options.

Want to Enter? Please include your e-mail address.


MANDATORY ENTRY: Comment what do you like about Crafty Mommy Diva.

Now You've Done That But Still Want More Entries? (LEAVE A SEPARATE COMMENT FOR EACH ENTRY)
1. Follow Crafty Mommy Diva through Google Friend Connect.
2. Follow Blogger Chix Designs through Google Friend Connect (you have to add her through your dashboard reading list), Grab her button, or Subscribe to her newsletter (her right sidebar). 3 entries
4. Grab Crafty Mommy Diva's button and add it to your blog (right sidebar). 2 entries
5. Blog or Facebook about this giveaway and include a links to Crafty Mommy Diva and Blogger Chix Designs. Leave link. 3 entries


ENDS Monday July 19th at 11:59 MST!